Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Carr. I refer to the report by the rural R&D corporations which showed there was a return of $11 for every $1 spent on agriculture research. Given the enormous benefits which flow to the agriculture sector from this research, can the government explain why it has taken a backward step and cut spending on science and innovation as a proportion of GDP? Does the government actually expect Australian farmers to be competitive on the global stage when the level of Commonwealth funding is shrinking?