Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to raise a serious issue impacting on the Queensland sugar industry in my electorate of Capricornia and the nearby electorates of Dawson, Flynn and Hinkler. It relates to a recent decision by processing giant Wilmar to break away from Queensland's sugar desk marketing system for sugar. Farmers tell me that, in doing so, Wilmar is behaving like a schoolyard bully. The Capricornia electorate takes in sugar growers from Koumala to Sarina and West Mackay and includes sugar processing facilities at Plane Creek and Racecourse. Wilmar's decision would take two million tonnes of sugar out of the current Queensland Sugar Limited's 3.2 million tonne marketing operation.

I have been inundated with concerns from Capricornia canegrowers, with some fearing they may lose their livelihoods if Willmar abandons the current single desk system under QSL. I urge Wilmar to listen to canegrowers. Wilmar once had the trust of local farmers and now there is great concern over the future of the entire industry. Nearly 79 per cent of canegrowers in my local area of Plane Creek have said no to Wilmar's announcement, and I urge the corporate giant to reconsider its decision for the sake of the Australian industry.

Central Queensland's 1,400 sugar cane growers make up about 30 per cent of the industry, which contributes about $700 million annually in gross returns to the local regional economy. So far, over 3,000 growers have given their thumbs down to Willmar's proposal. This is a significant voice as there are only 4,000 canegrowers in Queensland and northern NSW. My growers want the government to express strong support for a single desk selling system for sugar. They argue that if you have one seller such as QSL you have a better chance of negotiating better prices overseas than with a split market competing with each other.

At a meeting on this issue recently, we saw the biggest gathering in decades of Plane Creek canegrowers at a local sugar meeting. One industry leader described Wilmar's actions as akin to putting a gorilla in a room with a Chihuahua. The fact is that local growers are comfortable with the current marketing arrangement for sugar. Wilmar is a new boy on the block and it knew what it bought into at the time of taking over sugar company Sucrogen.

The sugar sector is worth about 50,000 to 60,000 jobs in Queensland alone. Wilmar was very much aware of the structure of the Queensland sugar industry before they made their decision to invest in Queensland. I urge Wilmar to reconsider their position and return to negotiations with Queensland Sugar Limited.