Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2026-2027

Mr RICK WILSON (O'Connor) (13:06): Last year, Western Australian farmers produced a grain crop of 27.2 million tonnes, which is a new record, breaking the previous record, which was set two years prior. That represents about a 100 per cent increase on the 10-year average, which is an extraordinary achievement by my farmers across the Western Australian Wheatbelt on the back of better sowing techniques, with the introduction of genetically modified crops, particularly canola, allowing much better weed control and much earlier sowing, completely changing the farming systems.

However, they do face significant challenges in repeating that exercise this year. On fuel and fertiliser costs, we all know that the war in the Middle East has disrupted supply chains dramatically, but the main impact is being felt not just in fuel prices. We've seen diesel fuel prices increase more dramatically than petrol prices, but I want people, particularly the minister, to remember that the reduction in fuel excise doesn't benefit the farmers, because off-road fuel is already completely excise free.

So there's been no relief from those elevated fuel prices for the farming community. More importantly, fertiliser prices have jumped dramatically. Urea is the main nitrogen input of that 27.2-million-tonne crop, and West Australia used 800,000 tonnes of urea last year.

While I accept that the minister and the government have been doing some work and they made an announcement about 200,000 tonnes of urea from Indonesia, which is a positive announcement, that is not even 25 per cent of the WA crop requirement, let alone Australia-wide. So we have got significant challenges not just for this year. I point out that the safeguard mechanism, which is part of the government's net zero policy, will force up the price of not only fuel but also fertilisers.

Urea is effectively solid natural gas, and the Perdaman development up on the North West Shelf is a welcome development that, hopefully, will shore up the supply chain. They'll be selling it at export parity, so it won't make any difference to the price, but at least we'll have a supply of urea on shore. But they will be hit by the government's safeguard mechanism, and that will force the price of urea up for our farming communities not just in Western Australia but Australia-wide.

The second major component of agriculture in my electorate, of course, is livestock—most particularly sheep. The devastation that's been wrought by this government is being manifested as we speak. Minister, you may not be aware, but the sheep numbers in Western Australia have dropped from around 9 million in 2024 to 6.5 million today.

That has meant the supply of animals going into the local abattoir system has dropped dramatically. Are you aware that a $3.3 million transition grant was granted to a processing facility, Beaufort River Meats, the day before they closed their doors because they couldn't get enough stock? I'd like you to address that issue.

Other major processors are down to four days and three days a week of processing because they simply can't get the numbers. We are losing the critical mass of livestock across Western Australia, and that will have ongoing implications—not just in the meat-processing sector, but amongst shearing teams. We've seen livestock transporters selling their crates and going out of business, and that impact is going to be profound and long felt in my electorate.

Minister, my questions are: Farmers continue to face high fuel and fertiliser costs that are eating into already-declining farm incomes. Why did this budget fail to provide any meaningful relief for those growing cost pressures? Minister, in terms of seasonal conditions, even in Western Australia we suffer seasonal ups and downs.

El Nino does affect the west coast as well as the east coast. So, with the growing concerns about the return of El Nino conditions and worsening seasonal outlooks, why did your government cut $52 million of funding from the Future Drought Fund instead of strengthening support for drought preparedness and resilience?