CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Dr WEBSTER (Mallee) (10:36): The Nationals is a truly grassroots party, demonstrated by our incredible federal conference held in Canberra yesterday and over the weekend. I want to commend all the young Nats who turned up. The conference room was hundreds of people wide, and there were so many present who lent their voices to motions that are incredibly important to them.

I want to talk about some of them now. One of the motions from the Victorian nationals was moved by Ross Johns from Warracknabeal. It was to ensure that some of our best farming land is not converted into so-called carbon sinks.

Cobungra Station in Victoria was mentioned. There are concerns about the future of Victoria's largest property, Telopea Downs in Mallee in my electorate, also becoming a carbon sink. I want to say the words of the motion itself, because I think it's important: 'that this federal conference of the Nationals condemns the Albanese Labor government for (a) using taxpayer funded policies and incentives to take productive Australian farmland out of food and fibre production and lock it up as carbon sinks (b) calls for an immediate end to Commonwealth funding, subsidies and incentives that result in productive agricultural land being removed from food and fibre production for carbon sequestration and (c) affirms that Australia's productive agricultural land must be protected to safeguard our food security, farming communities and future generations.

I want to also mention Peter and Leanne Pola from Lalbert, also in my electorate of Mallee, who had two motions calling for local roads to stay open when mining, renewables or transmission projects are occurring; protecting the right to farm; and requiring progressive rehabilitation bond payments of rehabilitation bonds to cover full site rehabilitation at the end of any project.

Their second one was calling for the removal of all taxpayer funded subsidies, taxation benefits and grants to mineral sands mining and renewable energy projects on all prime agricultural land—in other words, that these projects are self-funded. I also had the opportunity to call for the conference to endorse my bill—the Prime Agricultural Land Protection Bill, moved by both the member for Lyne in the House and Senator Canavan in the Senate—that says no coalition funding will subsidise projects that trash prime agricultural land.