Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to spend my 90 seconds on the Australian cotton industry, which is leading the world in quality, production and reduction in environmental care. It is very likely that all the people in this room are currently enjoying products of Australian cotton growers. Australia produces enough cotton each year to clothe 500 million people. Over the last 20 years average yields have increased from six bales per hectare to over 10. Through GPS and satellite technology, fields are better maintained to improve chemical and sediment run-off. Genetically modified cotton has led to a dramatic reduction in the pesticides used to battle the heliothis bug. The member for Wright, who is in the chamber, knows about the heliothis bug.

The average Australian cotton farm is family owned and operated and employs about six to seven people per farm. The average age of the person running a cotton farm is 39, which is very low for farmers these days, when the average age of other farmers is about 68. The average farm is 495 hectares, which comprises about 17 per cent of the total farm area. To supplement cotton, other crops can be grown, such as wheat, chickpeas and sorghum and sheep and cattle can be grazed if necessary. Flynn communities in Biloela, Emerald, Comet and Theodore produce irrigated cotton and give the industry high yields and high quality.