Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Scullion could well assist me, not that I have actually been pig shooting.

Opposition senators: Oh!

Do I look like a sophisticated lady who would go pig shooting? I have shared many a beer with many people, probably at the Humpty Doo pub, swapping stories about pig shooting. Senator Macdonald, if you want to ask questions about pig shooting and starving cattle, I might be able to help you. Lately in the Northern Territory we have had the issue of starving horses. I am giving it my best shot here, seeing that I would really like to have talked about the budget and given that I really want to know whether Mr Abbott this evening is going to commit to the $70 million we have committed to build the hospital at Palmerston in the Northern Territory and the $38 million for a new paediatric ward. That is the crucial issue on my mind today.

As you can well imagine, I am trying to establish the very fine line between protecting national parks and assisting farmers in Queensland, even though they may have 300,000 starving head of cattle. The administration of the EPBC Act is a matter for my colleague Minister Burke and I am advised that he is yet to receive a proposal from the Queensland government. I understand Mr Burke has been clear that national parks should be there for people to enjoy nature and not for cattle grazing. So we have announced the Farm Finance package. We are trying to support Australian farmers and graziers who face enormous challenges, including producers in Queensland. We want to ensure that farmers are equipped to deal with all of the differences they face in the climate, rather than to look for an ad hoc solution to open up a national park in a conservation area. As I said, we announced a national drought reform measure in the budget and that is the Farm Finance package. That is the way to resolve this issue—to support those producers. (Time expired)