Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and International Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Rudd interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Griffith will withdraw that.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and International Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given the critical importance of water for farmers across Australia and given that I represent all of the Murray in South Australia and vast underground resources, would the minister inform the House of any recent initiatives to protect this valuable resource? Are there any alternative proposals?

Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Barker for his question and for his continued strong representation on behalf of his electorate. On this vital issue of water reform, the Commonwealth government has provided the policy leadership and the economic incentive through the National Water Initiative to encourage the states to fully participate and to put their own houses in order. I was intrigued, distressed and dismayed when visiting Queensland recently to hear that Premier Beattie is planning to charge farmers $100 a bore, for each and every bore on their property, claiming that it is a National Water Initiative.

For many of us the Labor Party’s asking for $100 a bore sounds like selling tickets to a Labor Party fundraiser, but for Queensland farmers it is a great deal more serious. But Premier Beattie has gone even further: he is proposing a windmill tax—a windmill management charge. This is not justified or explainable in any shape or form under the National Water Initiative.

Thankfully for Australia’s farmers, not all members of the Labor Party are so out of touch or so arrogant and dismissive of primary producers. I refer of course to the shadow minister for agriculture, the member for Corio, who is not here today. He is facing a preselection in his electorate on the weekend, and he may not be sitting here for much longer. Yet, as a former dairy farmer, the member for Corio, I venture to suggest, is the last of the Labor Party members to have any link with primary production. How many other dairy farmers are there on that side of the House or primary producers—

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will resume his seat. The member for Gorton will remove himself from the chamber under standing order 94(a).

The member for Gorton then left the chamber.

Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Corio is a champion for agricultural issues. He is not always entirely effective but you would not know that from listening to the Leader of the Opposition. He has been asked countless times to indicate some degree of support for the position of the member for Corio. He has never given a straight answer. He will never mention him by name. In case the Leader of the Opposition was not listening to AM this morning, I will remind him of the comments of the member for Corio, who said:

Well I think the leader would appreciate more than anybody else that if you don’t give loyalty you don’t get it. And at the end of the day, it might not be me; it might be the leader.

Those words were from the member for Corio, in conjunction with the member for Batman, the member for Hotham and no doubt the member for Maribyrnong.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Roxon interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Gellibrand is warned. The level of interjection from both sides is totally out of order. The minister will be heard.

Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Lingiari, who has a great interest in water reform and has spoken often on the subject, said with regard to the preselection war that it was the work of ‘standover merchants, thugs and other sleazebags’. So there you have it: the Leader of the Opposition has done nothing for agriculture. In the absence of the member for Corio the Labor Party will do nothing for agriculture.