Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you again, Senator Ciccone. In the lead-up to the summit a historic meeting was held between agriculture and processing employers, unions and government. This was something the former government couldn't do and wouldn't do—actually getting people in the same room to talk about shared challenges is something the previous government just would not bother even trying to do.

As a direct result of that meeting, we have established a tripartite agriculture workforce working group to progress an agreed list of items needing further consideration. During the Jobs and Skills Summit, the NFF, Australian Pork Limited, Wool Producers Australia, JBS and the Australian Meat Industry Council joined the ACTU, the AWU, the UWU and the meat workers' union at a signing ceremony to try to find agreement on these issues moving forward. This group will pursue solutions to better skill, attract, protect and retain workers across the ag sector. Having these different sectors, who were once so divided, come together was a fantastic step forward in dealing with these issues.