Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question, following on from the member for Hunter, especially on the International Day Of Rural Women. Central Queensland is the home of Robyn McFarlane, the CWA president in Queensland; Josie Angus, who has got a very good vertically integrated beef business in that area; and the unforgettable Lenore Johnson, who has done immense work for Central Queensland in the political field for so long but has never wanted to be a member of Parliament. There is also another very good reason why the member for Capricornia should be asking this question, because today is once more her 25th birthday! It is the birthday of the member for Capricornia, so happy birthday, Michelle.

But onto other matters: in the beef capital of Australia under the TPP, we will see the tariffs going down to nine per cent on beef over 15 years. Japan is our second biggest beef market, with in excess of $2 billion worth of beef sold into that market. If you want to create jobs and if you want to grow the economy, then you have got to expand the markets we sell into. This is what the TPP does. This stands behind the meatworkers' jobs in Central Queensland. If you want to open up new markets, we are doing that with a 20 per cent reduction on tariffs on entry into force into Mexico. If you think of Mexico, you think of tacos. Unfortunately, the majority of it is offal. We are reducing it down for offal.

Opposition members: 'Taycos'! 'Taycos'!

See this speech in context