Damian Drum (Murray, National 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 Deputy Prime Minister outline to the House the threat that increasing energy prices pose to agricultural producers such as the Costa Group? Is the Deputy Prime Minister aware of any other policies to ease the cost of production for business and the cost of living for families?

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. What is happening to power prices is also incredibly important, especially to the people around Shepparton. It is important to them because the gross value of agricultural production around Shepparton in 2012-13 was $1.5 billion. By 2014-15 it was $2 billion—up by 33 per cent. In the same period of time, the Victorian gross value of ag increased by 13 per cent. It goes to show you that we are turning around agricultural production, not just in our nation but in particular areas.

I know that the member is very interested in horticulture. At the Global Food Forum yesterday, Brad Banducci said:

... given the cost increases that are coming through—

this is with regard to power—

we are ... trying to outrun a bear ... but I’m not sure we can ...

... we will have to in some way, very cautiously and carefully ... pass those through ... to our customers ...

So the increase in power prices, by reason of ridiculous policies such as seen in South Australia—and now they are trying to be replicated in Victoria—is going to be paid for by people at the checkout, by working men and women at the checkout, by working men and women trying to pay for their groceries.

At the same forum, Harry Debney, the CEO of the Costa Group, Australia's largest grower, packer and marketer of premium quality fresh fruit and vegetable, employing over 6,000 Australians across more than 40 farming wholesale distribution operations, said that electricity cost is one of their biggest issues. Costa produces 20 per cent of Australia's mushrooms and they have just spent $2 million at a plant at Mernda to put in five backup generators. Private enterprise is having to do the job in Victoria of what they believe the government's job should have been, which is to keep reliable and affordable power going through. Even today we had one of our leading energy producers, ERM, in my office saying that, if the Victorians think they are going to fix it by gas, at $10 a gigajoule the gas power price would be $100 a kilowatt-hour. He said that at that price you should look at small modular nuclear reactors because they would probably be cheaper than the solution that is being suggested.

Now we have the Labor Party in Victoria, with Hazelwood going offline, Yallourn about to go offline and Loy Yang B under threat, and what is the Labor Party doing? What are they doing beyond mimicking the problems of South Australia? What is happening to the Labor Party that once represented labourers? It is very well for the member for Gorton, and he is right to represent hairdressers and beauticians, but he had better find out that most of them are small business people worried about power prices. After hairdressers and beauticians, you had better start looking after blue-collar workers, They are whom you used to look after. That used to be your constituency. They used to be the people you cared about. What happens to these blue-collar workers? What about the member for McEwen when he asked the Prime Minister about who is actually doing the hard work, talking about the ones farming our produce. There are the 700 Costa employees— (Time expired)

Mr Rob Mitchell interjecting—

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

The member for McEwen is warned! I say to the member for McEwen, I think the Leader of the Opposition is seeking the call. The Leader of the Opposition has the call.