Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I acknowledge the very difficult job the secretariat had in putting together this report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on rural skills. The previous secretary, Mr Ian Dundas, resigned from his position and went on to other things. I wish him well. I thank him for the significant contribution he and his wife, Marlene Dundas, made to this committee. I also compliment Janet Holmes, the new secretary, who is ably assisted by Mr Bill Pender, and the other secretarial staff on the significant contribution they made in pulling this information together in a very brief period of time, not having had full carriage of the inquiry from day one. I think that needed to be said because I know all members of the committee are very much appreciative of the significant contribution the secretariat have made to this report.

I also pick up on the point my parliamentary colleague the member for Lyons made about a highly skilled rural workforce being vital to the economic future of Australia. I do not think over the last three or four decades that governments—territory, state and federal—have understood just how significant the contribution of people in rural Australia has been to the economy of this country. I think we take it for granted from time to time. Sadly, during the modern-day era, we have tended to see exercises of futility in the quest to pass some services offered by government on to the private sector. Governments have foolishly given away work that they supplied to the rural sector and therefore have left the very valuable experience of extension officers, who have made an enormous positive contribution to rural and regional Australia.

I am mindful of the fact that three members of the New South Wales parliament in another phase of my employment career crossed the floor and voted against the whole government because they were concerned that a very valuable service that was supplied by the government was being removed. We predicted that it would create a massive problem in the rural sector. Sadly, we were proven to be correct. One of those members sits in the chamber with me here today—Tony Windsor, who was then the Independent member for Tamworth. That is the sort of thing that governments fail on when they do not seriously consider the ramifications of downsizing or of rubbing out a department that is costing the taxpayer a bit of money but is delivering unexpected positives for the economy of the country in keeping rural industries alive. That particular action over the years has instilled a negative perception surrounding agriculture and forestry. We heard evidence about the problems associated with that perception. The report illustrates the point I make on this issue. On page 12, under the heading ‘Getting people in—changing perceptions of agriculture’, the report states:

1.38  Training people in rural skills is vital, but the people have to be there to train. As Mr Arthur Blewitt, CEO of the Agri-Food Industry Skills Council, told the committee, ‘worrying about skills is not terribly relevant unless you have people out there who want to work in those areas’. Or as Mr Graham Truscott, General Manager of the Australian Beef Industry Foundation, put it, ‘there is a people shortage first and a skills shortage second in the industry’.

1.39  One of the critical issues facing Australian agriculture and forestry is convincing people that there are worthwhile careers to be had in those industries. Mr Julian Breheny, a research officer with the Western Australian Farmers Federation, noted that agriculture ‘is seen as a sunset career or sunset industry’, while Dr Walter Cox, Chairman of the Board, Agricultural Research Western Australia, stated: ‘Currently, agriculture is seen as a second-class career rather than as a first-choice career’.

Unfortunately, that sort of mentality has flowed on into the high-skills area. Career officers have treated agriculture as a thing that the students really should not participate in if they want to make a future for themselves outside of their schooling time. Sadly, that has had a significant impact on people.

But it goes beyond that. How can we have in this country a situation, for example, where people come and give us evidence on the serious situation that is occurring in the honeybee industry? We heard evidence about the honeybee industry. In relative terms, as far as Australia is concerned, it makes a reasonably meagre contribution to the economy of the country—about $60 million. What that does overlook is the fact that the honeybee pollinates 60 to 70 per cent of our plant life, thereby creating a massive food source for the nation as a whole and enhancing the export potential and domestic potential of foodstuffs in this great country of ours.

Sadly, the cost-cutting exercise has created a problem there. It is obvious that the training organisations and the universities have seen very little financial return or income coming from the sorts of industries where small groups of people want to pick up a course and learn that particular skill in that particular industry. As a result of that, we have seen a situation where we no longer train people in the honeybee industry. What have we done? We look to importing people from Third World countries to prop up the honeybee industry, one of the most significant industries in terms of its outcome for this great country of ours. The committee has put in some very relevant recommendations in terms of the honeybee industry. Also, more importantly, it has made some very sensible recommendations centred on extension officers—the training of extension officers and why we need them.

I would like to take this opportunity whilst I am on my feet to compliment the committee, particularly those members who have given a personal commitment to make sure that the committee keeps functioning in an appropriate way by making themselves available in sometimes very difficult circumstances when we move around the countryside taking evidence. It is true to say that we took 117 submissions and attended some 22 public hearings. We talked to hundreds and hundreds of people about this issue. It was only because of the commitment of these people as parliamentarians that we were able to bring the information back, get it disseminated by our very capable secretariat and then come up with what I believe is a very good and sound report which hopefully the minister and the government will pick up by way of the recommendations contained therein.

I have been fortunate to be chair of this committee for a couple of years now. It was very successful in issuing a report on the impact of feral animals on agriculture. The committee is working together in a unified way in the best interests of rural and regional people. I thank each and every member of that committee for the contribution that they made. Without any further ado, I commend the report to all members of the parliament and particularly our rural based parliamentary colleagues from both sides of the House. I think it is an excellent opportunity for them to learn just how significant the rural skills needs are in Australia and it needs the support of all of our parliamentary colleagues to make sure that the recommendations are enforced and followed by the government.

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