Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. Will the minister outline to the House the impact of unreliable and unaffordable energy on the agricultural sector, particularly for hardworking people in my electorate of Barker? What are the implications if these destructive policies are replicated across the nation?

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question and note that dairy cattle farming in the seat of Barker accounts for 80 per cent of South Australia's dairy production and is home to 240 of the 302 dairy farms. South Australia's Labor's 50 per cent Renewable Energy Target has helped contribute to the 100 per cent increase in daily shared electricity costs between 2010 to 2013—100 per cent increase. South Australian dairy farmers, under Labor Party policy, are paying $15,000 more—

Ms Keay interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Braddon is warned!

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

than the national average, which is about $35,000. Farmers contend with power outages which put the health of dairy cows and the financial viability of the farms on the line. In 2016, Australian Dairy Farmers estimated that 10,000 dairy cows—about 10 per cent of the state herd—had been impacted by power cuts at that time and were impacted when the whole of the state went out black. We are finding dairy sheds now that have to go onto diesel generators. They are going off the grid because the policy of the Labor Party is so incomprehensible in being able to deliver an outcome in milking cows. Obviously everybody is quite perplexed about the fact that now the federal Labor Party want the whole of Australia to look like South Australia when it comes to power policy. Of course, we have all been watching with quite some interest, waiting for the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Maribyrnong, to come to the dispatch box and explain their policy. It was good to listen to AM this morning because Sabra Lane had a crack at it.

I must admit, I am getting more illumination from the member for Maribyrnong's electric-blue, sapphire suit than I am getting from his answer. But I do not know. Maybe it is periwinkle blue. He is a snappy dresser, but he is not very good at answering questions. We got nothing. How much is this policy going to cost? But the man in the electric-blue, sapphire suit did not have an answer. It is going to be an issue for the member for Chifley, because I have no doubt the people of Mt Druitt want to know what is going to happen to power prices in Mount Druitt when policy is driven by the man in the electric-blue, sapphire suit. What is going to happen to power prices in Mount Druitt? What are you actually going to say to your branch meeting when you say, 'Our policy on power is now delivered by the man in the new blue suit'?

The big issue, of course, is your policy has been determined by the Greens. You have to go back to Mount Druitt and explain it to them. You have to explain to them why your policy is to make people poorer. I think Graham Richardson got it right when he said you are all lined up like lemmings, but I do not think they are all lined up behind you for very much longer, old trout. (Time expired)