Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

Our government has listened to the concerns of farmers and we have acted to secure their properties, to secure their homes and their livelihoods. Their farms are critical and crucial to our nation and they should be protected. Most Australian farms are family owned and operated. They're good people. I come from a generational farming family and I know how hard our farmers work. They deserve our respect. If you illegally storm a farm, we will throw the book at you.

Under the new legislation, if you're found guilty of using personal information of farmers to incite trespass, you will face up to a year in jail, as you should. If you go a step further and incite damage or theft on agricultural land, you could be—and should be—living in a jail cell for the next five years. You shouldn't be allowed out in those five years. We are taking this very, very seriously. I commend the Attorney-General and the minister for water resources and drought for their work in helping to form this legislation. I hear the Opposition Leader say, 'It is bipartisan.' That is good, and that is as it should be. It's a shame that we had to drag you kicking and screaming to the Future Drought Fund. I also commend the state minister for agriculture in New South Wales, Adam Marshall, who is in the House today. This week the New South Wales government announced $1,000 on-the-spot fines for individuals—and further fines of up to $220,000 per person and $440,000 for corporations—who illegally enter farmers' properties creating biosecurity risks. Our farmers need protecting. We're doing just that.

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