House debates

Tuesday, 22 June 2021

Questions without Notice

Australian Women in Agriculture

2:21 pm

Photo of Julie CollinsJulie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. The head of the Women in Agriculture has said reappointing the Deputy Prime Minister to his role 'would be a demonstration' government members 'haven't been listening to women'. In his capacity as minister for regional development, what does the Deputy Prime Minister say to Women in Agriculture?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question, and, might I say, as a father of four daughters, I have obviously an incredibly vested interest in making sure that women in agriculture, women in every section of society, have the best opportunity and the safest environment that they could possibly live in. I note that in agriculture, as we well know, so many businesses are a partnership where that family unit is instrumental in the success of the operation. That was the family unit that I grew up in with my mum and my dad, and where Mum, if she wasn't running the finances of the farm, was also at times the worker in the paddocks with Dad. So, in farming, it is really, truly a partnership between both the mum and dad in a unit to try and make sure that that business operation works—more so, I would say, than many other areas of work within the nation. So, without a shadow of a doubt, I have the greatest respect for what is truly half the reason that Australian agriculture has had the success that it has had.