Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

That is the truth. The reason we have our wheat marketing arrangements in disarray comes down to three letters: AWB. And it goes back to the wheat for weapons scandal, which members opposite do not wish to be reminded of but which fundamentally torpedoed amidships the credibility of our then existing international wheat marketing arrangements. That is why the entire wheat industry, including the 24,000 good and honourable people out there growing wheat as a crop as their livelihood, have had their future international wheat marketing arrangements placed in jeopardy as a consequence of the inaction—and, some would say, worse than that—on the part of the previous government.

Secondly, therefore, we as the incoming government have had to confront the realities of, ‘How do you best deal with the situation in a way which maximises the interests of growers right across the country?’ It is no secret to those opposite; it is no secret to the National Party; there is a huge division of opinion among wheat growers, depending on what part of the country you come from, when it comes to exactly the right approach to take. In Western Australia you have a huge deregulation constituency. In parts of New South Wales you have a huge non-deregulation constituency. In various other parts of the country it splits right up the middle. Take, for example, Wilson Tuckey, the member for O’Connor.

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