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

Thank you, Senator Ciccone, for observing the spirit of cooperation. It sounds like some others could learn from that. One of the things that was mentioned during the press conference that we held with the NFF, its members and every union that covers the agricultural workforce was how unlikely this tripartite working group would have been under the previous government. It's no surprise, when you have the Leader of the National Party—who says he represents farmers—consistently hurling insults at the nation's peak farming body. Previously, he claimed that they don't represent farmers—they're only the peak body for farmers. He's called them ignorant, and just last week he called them cowards. No wonder the former government, with an attitude like that, couldn't deliver a single worker under their agricultural visa scheme. They couldn't get consensus within their own coalition, let alone within the wider sector. It's just more of the same from the Liberals and Nationals, dividing Australians instead of bringing them together.

But I will give Mr Littleproud credit for turning up. Who wasn't there? The one person who wasn't there was the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Dutton. (Time expired)