Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) | Hansard source

I only want to speak briefly on the Criminal Code Amendment (Agricultural Protection) Bill 2019. I also want to acknowledge the contribution that Senator Patrick has just made, which was a constructive contribution to what is a very important piece of legislation. It's pleasing to hear from members of the crossbench who are willing to work with the government on things that are important to our nation and getting the balance right on many things, which is what this chamber is very good at doing.

The same can't be said, though, for the speaker who proceeded Senator Patrick. Senator Steele-John made a reference to members of this place—senators and political parties—shafting farmers, and the allegation or the allusion was that it was the Liberal-National coalition that was shafting farmers. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's not this side who are shafting farmers. We stand up for farmers. That's why we've brought this bill in. I commend the Minister for Agriculture for being so responsive to industry concerns and dealing with the things that she has dealt with in this bill.

It's not, I hope, the Labor Party who shaft farmers; it's the Greens who do that. It's the Greens who are speaking out against this piece of legislation claiming that it doesn't need to be brought in, that we don't need these protections and that we don't need to clamp down on this terrible behaviour we've seen time and time again. They're the party that shaft farmers, they're the party that shafts foresters and they're the party that shafts fishermen and women. They're the party that shaft regional Australia. They're the party that do not care about jobs in our regional communities. It's time they were called out for that sort of thing. They're not standing up for balance and they're not standing up to protect people. They are doing what they normally do: creating emotive arguments and costing people jobs on the way through.

I believe, as do all of the members on this side of the chamber and I gather many others in this place, that protecting jobs in our primary industries is essential. Regional communities are built off the back of strong primary industries in forestry, in fisheries and in farming. I think that the inclusion of wood processing and wood-fibre processing facilities within the definition of primary production businesses is a very good addition.

In my home state of Tasmania, we only have to have a little look at recent history and the impact that protesters have had on the forestry industry there, to the point where they were able to shut down a huge portion of our native forestry sector in our state, costing thousands of jobs—something that certain members of the Greens wear as a badge of honour. They don't go out and speak to the people whose jobs they've cost, they don't go and talk to the wives and the husbands of those who've lost their jobs or the kids whose parents no longer have employment and they don't drive through the streets of the towns that have been shut down as a result—and they take no responsibility for any of it. It's unsafe to go and shut down these serious primary industry operations. As I said before, it costs jobs.

I want to focus on forestry. It is a proud industry. It's an industry that should be proud of the standard at which it operates. We are better than most other forestry nations around the world. We operate at a world standard. Those people who work in the industry and those who invest in it should be proud. We should ignore the messages that we get from the Australian Greens trying to denigrate that industry. That's why it's important that this bill protects the right for those who want to work and those who want to invest in forestry as well as other primary industries to be able to do what they do without fear of being persecuted and having protests take place in their places of work by people supported by the Australian Greens.

I do acknowledge, though, that in the consultation process, particularly through the work of the committee that inquired into this piece of legislation, a number of concerns were raised, particularly from the forestry industry. Having spoken with the Minister for Agriculture, I look forward to working with the forestry industry, in particular, on the further concerns that they raise and seeing what can be done into the future to make sure that industry continues to be strong, proud of what it does and continues to provide the jobs that are so badly needed in regional communities—jobs that that lot over there, the Australian Greens, want to get rid of. I commend this bill to anyone listening.