Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia. Will the minister update the House on how the Morrison-Joyce government has supported regional Australia through the COVID-19 pandemic, including through the government's support for the nation's iconic agricultural shows and field days?

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mallee for her question and for her commitment and support for the strong agricultural shows and field days in her own electorate of Mallee. Our agricultural shows play an important role not just in bringing our communities together once a year but also in showcasing all that is great about our agricultural industries. Sadly, COVID has struck them a cruel blow—the 50,000 volunteers across this country who turn up to support and showcase their community every year and the over 4,000 show men and women who travel across this country, making sure that there are rides there for the kids to make the shows even better. COVID has dealt them a cruel blow, not only this year but last year as well.

Last year we committed $34½ million to support them and get them through these tough times, and we've committed an additional $25 million this year to help pay for many of the fixed cost that will not go away, like insurance, rates and electricity. They have no income stream to be able to cover that. For those cancelled shows and field days, we've stepped in with support to keep them going, to support those men and women who are prepared to volunteer for their community. In the member for Mallee's own electorate, over $200,000 has gone into that, as part of the $38 million that has gone to our rural shows. Last year all our rural shows in our capital cities were shut down. This year Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra—we're hoping Hobart will be able to showcase—were unable to run. They play an important role in connecting the city and the bush, bringing the bush to the city and being able to showcase to metropolitan Australians how we produce their food and fibre in the sustainable way that we do so they can take pride in and understand what Australian farmers do. This is an investment not only in the city but also in the bush, in making sure there is an appreciation of the hard work that our men and women do in the agricultural sector. We're continuing to make sure that we also support those show men and women.

I've got to acknowledge the member for Maribyrnong for his advocacy on this, and for bringing it to my attention—that they were the forgotten ones. We've worked together to make sure that there's been over $8 million to support them, to provide money to the show societies to pay their rents. So, the show societies get the money, but the financial burden of these show men and women is taken away. These are small-business men and women right across our country, who travel across our country and bring so much joy. It was important that they not be forgotten, and I'm proud to say that we have not forgotten them.

We've also made sure that we've supported our show societies, particularly the country ones. We've supported them with a $20 million infrastructure fund to ensure that they can continue to build infrastructure. When they've lost their revenue they don't have the savings to put towards new infrastructure. So $20 million has gone right across this country to help them build infrastructure and have better shows next year. Our investment is about the men and women who put their heart and soul into our communities and make sure the show goes on.