Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I relish the chance to make a contribution to the motion moved by Senator Cadell on this issue. Senator Brown might be right about the situation in Tasmania. In fact, I'm pleased that supplies are pretty good down there, but that's not the way it is across the country, and that response is not the way this government has treated regional Australians in particular over the last couple of weeks as they have struggled their way through what is very much a regionally focused shortage of supply.

It's been interesting to listen to Labor Party senators, who largely are still talking from the talking points from last week and earlier this week. They're still blaming consumers. It's the consumers' fault for buying fuel; that's why we've got a problem! There's plenty of fuel here, but the only problem is nobody knows where it is; nobody can tell us where that fuel is. In particular, independent supply chains in regional Australia are where most of the problem is manifesting, and it's in some industries. I mentioned the fishing industry earlier in the week, and certain fishing operators have come back from sea, and the only diesel they have got is what's left in their boats. They can't go back out again.

What do we get? We get bluster, we get word salad and we get blamed, but we are reflecting very much the concerns that are being put to us by our constituents around the country—concerns about supply and concerns about price. The attitude of the government in blaming the consumers of fuel is outrageous. It just shows the lack of respect that they have for regional Australia.

It was shown again with the question asked by Senator Cadell about the amount of land that is being taken up for carbon sequestration. There's an example of that in my home state of Tasmania right now, where this government is subsidising a foreign business to purchase 22,000 hectares of irrigated dairy and cattle country to grow trees. That's what this government's doing. What's happening in that market? They're completely distorting the market, so this foreign tree company can bid $20 million more than the local businesses to buy this farm and put it out of the business of agriculture. No wonder the farming community around the country, including in my home state of Tasmania, isn't confident of what's going on. How is it that a foreign business can outbid local businesses by $20 million—25 per cent of the value of the property—to take it out of agricultural production? This is irrigated dairy and beef country, and they're subsidising a company from overseas to come in and bid against others in the local market, driving the price of the land up and distorting the market, to take it out of agricultural production.

Then we saw yesterday, when Infrastructure Australia released its priority projects, that the third tranche of irrigation schemes in Tasmania has dropped off the priority list. We understand how this government thinks about regional Australia, including regional Tasmania. Irrigation schemes funded by both Labor and Liberal governments over the last 15 years have transformed agriculture in my home state of Tasmania, yet this government, through Infrastructure Australia, takes the next tranche of that irrigation development off the national priority list for infrastructure in Tasmania. It's outrageous that they do that. But then, of course, they're prepared to convert an irrigated dairy and beef farm to trees. This is the absurdity of what's going on in my home state. It's absolutely absurd.

They treat regional Australia with this same disrespect across the board. It doesn't matter whether it's farming, fishing or aquaculture. The ministers say there's plenty of fuel, but they don't say when it's coming. That's all the Australian people in our communities want to understand: when will the fuel be there, and what's the plan to get it there? They are the simple questions that we're asking on behalf of our— (Time expired)

Question agreed to.