Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) | Hansard source

I move:

That the following matters be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee for inquiry and report by 30 November 2026:

(a) the regional impact on agricultural production in north-eastern Tasmania from the conversion of Rushy Lagoon from irrigated beef and dairy to a radiata pine plantation;

(b) the impact on the regional economy of north-eastern Tasmania from the conversion of Rushy Lagoon from irrigated beef and dairy to a radiata pine plantation;

(c) the impact on the biodiversity of north-eastern Tasmania of 9000 ha of radiata pine plantation;

(d) the impact on local water tables of 9000 ha of radiata pine plantation on Rushy Lagoon and the consequent impact on the Ramsar wetland on the property;

(e) the adequacy of agricultural assessments undertaken as part of the Foreign Investment Review Board process, approval for Australian Carbon Credit Unit and consideration of a Conversion Grant;

(f) the adequacy of consultation with local communities and the Tasmanian Government over Commonwealth Government-promoted conversion of Tasmania's largest farm;

(g) the ability of agricultural production to compete with multi-level government investment and incentives promoting the conversion of agricultural land to carbon forestry;

(h) the influence of large-scale government agency investment into agricultural land on statutory considerations of national interest in foreign takeover considerations;

(i) the adequacy of safeguards to protect productive agricultural land and Australia's food security;

(j) similar examples around Australia of agricultural land being converted to plantations for carbon storage;

(k) the influence of carbon credits (both domestic and international) on land-use change in Australia; and

(l) any other matters.

I have to say, right at the outset of this motion, I am disgusted that, if the government feel that this is such a great deal, they're not prepared for it to be properly scrutinised. There is so much that stinks about the sale of Rushy Lagoon. There is so much that stinks about this deal and all of the things that have gone on around it that it warrants proper investigation.

I'm not surprised that the Labor Party is saying no, but I am surprised that the Greens are saying no because some of the environmental considerations of this particular project are considerable. They've been glossed over; they've been ignored. The Labor members in Tasmania have trotted out the talking points. I listened to a contribution by Senator Dowling today, and, clearly, he was just using the talking points because he did not know what he was talking about. He was talking about the fact that 9,000 hectares of the property would go into plantation with the rest available for agriculture. What he doesn't understand is that 11,000 hectares of this 21,700 hectare property are native vegetation and Ramsar listed wetlands. If, according to his dissertation today, those 11,000 hectares of native vegetation and Ramsar listed wetlands are going into agriculture, that's not the outcome that anybody's looking for. It just demonstrates that Labor members are coming in here; they've got the talking points, and they're told what they have to say.

It just stinks. It just stinks when you look at the facts that relate to this particular project. You would have expected me, as someone who's a former forestry minister and who's worked in the agriculture portfolio, to be supporting this project, but I'm not, and I'll tell you why.

Rushy Lagoon is a 21,700-hectare irrigated beef and dairy farm. The members of the Labor Party opposite try to pass it off as class 5 and class 6 land, which shows they don't understand agriculture and they don't understand farming like the people in the local community understand agriculture and farming.