Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Sterle for his second supplementary question. It asked me to address any alternative policy approaches for the flagship Caring for our Country program. I have reviewed the track record of the Liberals and Nationals and concluded that their policy is simply to continue to peddle fear and misinformation. Before the federal budget the shadow minister for agriculture, Mr John Cobb, was running around like Henny Penny, pushing cheap falsehoods that Caring for our Country was going to be axed. He spared no effort in trying to convince the public that this Labor flagship program would be cut from the budget. But what actually happened in the budget was that the government announced a $2.2 billion investment in the program. That is hardly axing the program! I suppose Mr Cobb was too busy thinking of his own proposed budget to find the $70 billion in cuts to services and— (Time expired)