Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the passage of the Regional Investment Corporation Bill 2017. As many of you know, from my previous speeches in this place, my passion and commitment to regional Australia knows no bounds. My electorate of Mayo contains some of the best agricultural produce in the world. In fact, the Adelaide Hills just won the nation's most outstanding region award at the 2017 delicious. Produce Awards. We have a myriad of apples, pears, cherries, strawberries, beef, sheep and crops. There are 93 separate dairy farms within my electorate borders, along with seven separate wine regions.

The future of agriculture in Australia directly impacts on the future economy of my electorate, and I see a very bright future for Australian agriculture. I have previously discussed in this House that, by 2050, the world's population is expected to increase to 10 billion people. A large majority of this increase will be on our doorstep in Asia. This creates an enormous opportunity for Australia's agricultural sector. I have long advocated for putting the right measures in place now to ensure that Australia benefits from the incoming great dining boom. The growing Asian middle class demands high-quality produce, and who better to provide that produce than Australia? We are perfectly placed to reap the rewards of increased demand.

I'm a very strong supporter of the measure in this bill to give control of the Farm Business Concessional Loans Scheme to the Regional Investment Corporation. I stood in this House earlier this year and discussed how, by leaving it to each state and territory to administer the scheme, perverse outcomes were being created. There is inconsistency in application. In my state, the dairy recovery loans have been under-utilised, due in part to the state government refusing to consider water allocations and livestock as part of the land value when assessing eligibility. This is different to other states and territories, particularly Tasmania, which assess both water rights and livestock.

Since the dairy recovery loans were introduced, there have been 228 farm businesses approved for funding. Of this 228, only eight South Australian dairy farmers have had their loans approved. The total value of loans approved in South Australia is $7.5 million—compared to $109 million in Victoria. For all concessional loans programs from 2013 onwards, South Australian farm businesses have been paid $17.2 million out of a national total of $724 million. That is just two per cent of the total value of loans approved going to farm businesses in South Australia. A move to a nationally consistent application of the loan scheme is fair for all farmers. It means some farmers will no longer be denied federal assistance just because their land is on one side of the border.

Similarly, a $2 billion investment in water security and infrastructure is very welcome. I'm privileged to have the Lower Lakes in my electorate. I think I can speak for all South Australians when I say we know about the importance of water security, and thankfully my state is no longer in drought. But I am not so naive as to think drought won't return in the near future. Investments in water infrastructure will help to protect our regions in the future. While I'm on water security, I want to again address the allegations of theft aired in the ABC's Four Corners program on 24 July. These allegations are shocking, but perhaps what's worse is the seeming lack of concern from members of the coalition. It is hypocritical and condescending for the government to introduce measures designed to boost water security while also turning what I see as a blind eye to serious allegations of water theft in the Murray-Darling Basin. I have previously called on the Deputy Prime Minister to step aside from the water resources portfolio, and I reiterate that statement here today. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan is not perfect, but it is a strong plan. It's a national plan and it's a shared plan. It's born out of compromise and it's is endorsed by this parliament.

While I applaud the federal government for its $4 billion commitment to the Regional Investment Corporation to Australian farmers, I want to make a point I have previously made in this House: Australian farmers are not looking for a handout. I speak to farmers every week in my electorate. They pride themselves on not having to lean on government for subsidies like farmers do in other countries. But, as farmers have supported this country in the past, the country must also lend its support to farmers at times when needs arise. These measures secure that assistance, and I commend the government for introducing them.

I would like to speak briefly on the controversy that has come up with the announcement of the Regional Investment Corporation to be located in Orange in New South Wales. Critics will point to the Deputy Prime Minister seeking to shore up a marginal New South Wales electorate. I want to say here that I am a supporter of decentralisation. However, decentralisation needs to be a policy beyond placement of jobs in northern New South Wales. I want to make special mention of the member for Indi, Ms Cathy McGowan, who has pushed hard for a House select committee inquiry on regional development and decentralisation, and I look forward to this committee examining the benefits of decentralisation and the positive impact it can have on regional communities.

I note the Labor Party have raised some concerns with this bill, including the lack of accountability and parliamentary oversight. While I understand that the Regional Investment Corporation will be able to be called before the Senate estimates process, I would like to see more parliamentary oversight for a corporation that will be handling billions of dollars of taxpayer money. I'm supporting the passage of this bill so that my Nick Xenophon Team colleagues can review the Senate committee report and examine the bill in further detail. Like me, my NXT colleagues are committed to ensuring that regional Australia continues to prosper.

Deputy Speaker, I was just in my office listening to the debate on this bill and I would like to raise with the House what appears to be something that I am finding quite awkward, and that is the member for Barker's fixation with me. It's becoming quite weird. Instead of talking about farmers, the member for Barker, who spoke just moments ago, spent a considerable amount of his time talking personally about me. I know that the Nick Xenophon Team candidate, James Stacey, who is a former dairy farmer and a true grassroots representative of his community, only had six weeks to campaign in Barker and during that time reduced the member for Barker's margin from 16 to 4.7 per cent—the closest margin in Barker since 1943. Perhaps the member for Barker has received some new polling that he is finding deeply concerning. I'm not sure, but I must say that I am finding this rather perplexing and certainly awkward and weird. I don't presume to give the member for Barker advice in this place, but I will say that his constituents, judging by those who ring me to pledge their support, want a member who cares and connects with their community and who is not distracted by petty party games.

In closing, regional Australia is the lifeblood of this country. Over 314,000 people are employed in Australian agriculture, which is fast becoming the major driver of the Australian economy, with the end of the mining boom. Too often the federal parliament and state parliaments focus on the metropolitan areas at the expense of the regions. If we want Australia to grow and to succeed over the next 50 years, investment in our regions is of paramount importance. For that reason, I support the passage of this bill.

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