Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Will the minister inform the House of Australian government assistance to the development of a more prosperous and productive agriculture sector in Iraq?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for the question. There could be few things more important in helping a nation recover from a difficult period than actually doing something about helping them provide food for their population. The Prime Minister during his visit to Iraq made the commitment for 100 Australian agricultural scholarships. Earlier this year, in January, we had a visit from my counterpart the Iraqi Minister for Agriculture, Dr Ali Husayn Kadim al-Bahadili. He referred in our meeting here to there being a history of agricultural cooperation between our nations spanning all the way back to the 1970s. The reasons are clear: we face many of the same challenges. Both Australia and Iraq have very high levels of evaporation, particular soil problems and soils and plants that lose the moisture they do obtain from what little rain they receive. Much of the Iraqi vegetation is, as a result, reliant on irrigation. For that reason our assistance to them with dryland agriculture has been of critical importance.

For every economy at a time of world food shortage, this sort of cooperation is important. While agriculture is only seven per cent of Iraq’s GDP, it does employ more than a quarter of their workforce. The minister, in his comments to me, identified Australia’s expertise and referred to a number of Australian universities which he believed would be well placed to deliver courses which might be of assistance. Since then, such courses have been announced at the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, the University of Adelaide and the University of Queensland. They will be starting in September at a cost of $8.5 million.

In addition to that, $50 million has been provided to facilitate transition to an open, market based economy through helping restore agricultural services and boosting agricultural production. Boosting skills and the capacity of a further 180 Iraqi officials who are working in the sector and in the field, supporting their veterinary services, implementing projects targeting good crop management and also assisting them with pest control practices in areas such as wheat and barley are all part of the equation in trying to make sure that we can help rebuild a better community for the Iraqi people.