Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Watt. Last week's Jobs and Skills Summit, held right here in Parliament House, brought together industry groups, business leaders, unions and advocacy groups to address workforce issues right across Australia. Can the minister please detail to the Senate how the outcomes from this summit will benefit the ag industry right now?

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

tor WATT (—) (): I thank Senator Ciccone for another great question about agriculture and industry, which I know he is very interested in. Firstly, I want to echo the words of the Prime Minister who said, in relation to the summit, that it delivered outcomes that even he could not have hoped for. To see the leaders of groups divided for so long under the previous coalition government come together to discuss these major workforce and training issues was really something special, and that was certainly the mood of the room. That applies to agriculture as much as to other industries. The National Farmers Federation and its members were in the same room as unions covering agricultural workers for the first time in many years, and I thank all of those participants for their collaboration and for putting the interests of industry, farmers and workers first, rather than political gains.

There were some great outcomes from the summit that will benefit the agriculture sector straight away. The government announced an additional $1 billion in joint funding with the states for fee-free TAFE in 2023, and I'll be working with industry, unions and rural Australia to ensure that agriculture get its fair share. We also announced that the migration cap would be lifted from 165,000 to 195,000, including 34,000 places for the regions, an increase of 9,000 on that which the previous government put in place. Again, this increase will help fill some of the gaps in the agriculture workforce. The government also announced money for visa processing, to speed it up and clear the backlog of nearly a million people who are waiting because of the previous government's inaction. Again, that will help the agriculture workforce. These measures, of course, come on top of the government's existing commitments, including to expand the PALM scheme and strengthen worker protections.

At the end of the summit last week the NFF President, Fiona Simson, said that they got sick of waiting for action under the previous government. The ag sector waited for a number of years for the ag visa. They waited for years for investment in training. They waited for years for any movement, and now we're already delivering after 107 days—(Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ciccone, a first supplementary question?

Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's wonderful news—thank you, Minister. Can the minister outline what measures from the summit will be implemented to alleviate these workforce issues in the agriculture industry over the next 12 months?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to 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.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ciccone, a second supplementary question?

Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What a great spirit of cooperation there was during the jobs summit last week, and I want to thank the minister. Can the minister also advise the Senate how this new spirit of cooperation compares to the previous approach undertaken by the coalition government?

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