Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Paterson says, 'gone'. Yes, no-one on that side. We waited two years for it. It was the centrepiece of their agricultural policy in the lead-up to the 2013 election, the agricultural white paper. Remember I used to have the weekly media release? Another week has passed and we still don't have an agricultural white paper. It left as slowly as it came. Let me talk about some of those.

You might want to ask yourself how the dairy code of conduct is going? It was recommended by the ACCC, I think, in late 2018. Our farmers are now being told that they don't get a code of conduct until July 2020. By the way, going back to the numbers, I asked people in the agricultural sector how the dairy farmers are going on the watch of this government. I will ask them whether they believe this government has done anything meaningful to help them. Of course, the answer will be no.

If you were the minister would you talk about the wheat port code? Of course you wouldn't. Guess what? No-one talks about it anymore, because it only covers one exporter. This government introduced a wheat port code that now only covers one exporter.

Maybe the minister might be thinking about the agriculture visa. Do we remember the agriculture visa? Minister, your Prime Minister talked about it pretty regularly. He was going to have one. Then he wasn't going to be have one. Then he was going to have one again. Of course, we have not heard anything of it, certainly not post the election.

Back to visas, what about the deal they did with Nick Xenophon to get the backpacker tax through? Remember the backpacker tax? Instead of helping the workforce issue in the horticulture industry they made it worse. They did a deal with then Senator Nick Xenophon. What was the deal? They were going to continue to pay people an unemployment benefit while they picked. Remember that? How long did that last? I don't think any minister would be using that as an example of some of the success stories of this government. How many dams did the member for New England build in the end? I said, at this despatch box in 2013, that he will never build a dam. No, he never did. We're still cleaning up his mess.

What about the white paper's rebate to help farmers secure multi-peril crop insurance? Where is that now? I remember it well. They spent more on marketing the program to farmers than they handed out in rebates. It was so successful! You'll be interested in this, Deputy Speaker Hogan: what about the money to produce more co-ops? Everyone loves a co-op in rural and regional Australian, don't they? They love a co-op. The white paper was going to give us co-ops everywhere—a co-op here, a co-op there and a co-op everywhere. Of course, no-one ever talks about that program any more. The list goes on and on.

What represents one of the most important entities in the agricultural sector? It's APVMA. The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority ensures that the chemicals our farmers use are safe for both them and their workers and for the food that we consume. Our veterinarians rely on the APVMA to make sure they have access to the right drugs for both our primary production animals and our companion animals. How is that going these days? Not very well. That is because the member for New England decided to put himself ahead of the farming community by pork-barrelling that authority all the way to New England. The only reason it still has a heartbeat at all is that the government—having realised it was such a mess—now has more than 50 scientists and regulatory lawyers working here in Canberra, contrary to their own policy rule. The CEO of the APVMA was forced to get legal advice to tell him that he can continue to employ people in Canberra.

I won't even start on the farm household allowance, because I have ran out of time. But there will be a bill later, and there will be plenty of time for me to talk. Minister, we will be talking about the way you allowed the boss of your department—now Bridget McKenzie's department—to be sacked because Barnaby Joyce mislead this chamber to cover for his own incompetencies. This is a government full of people who talk about our farmers, but on a regular basis they put their own political interests ahead of the interests of our farmers. There's plenty of evidence of it. When we get to the farm household allowance bill, I'll be talking more about them. We want to hear more policy from this government and less political spin.

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