ECONOMIC AND FINANCE COMMITTEE: CONSUMER PROTECTION FOR FARMERS

Adjourned debate on motion of Mr Piccolo:

That the 70^th report of the committee, entitled Consumer Protection for Farmers: Reaping a Fair Harvest, be noted.

(Continued from 30 June 2010.)

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (11:49): In supporting the recommendation from this committee, I will just reflect on a couple of things. First of all, I remind members of the house that this proposition was actually opposed by members of the opposition on this committee of inquiry which is to their great shame. I am constantly reminded, when I go out into the country parts of my electorate, how awful the Liberals were in opposing this motion.

Also, I remind members of the contribution made by the member for Bragg in trying to delay the finalisation of this motion. Her comments were embarrassing, and she went way off the topic. She actually avoided discussing the issues that came before the committee, and that was because they were embarrassed by the way the committee members behaved in opposing the recommendation. Clearly, the opposition was not prepared to support a key part of its constituency and it paid the price obviously in the appropriate electorate.

The recommendations contained in this report will obviously be pursued through both the state and federal governments and there are a number of other issues arising in rural areas which will come before this house and which indicate that we need to start seeing farmers in a different light. It is important to understand that while farmers are small business people, when you consider their relationship to the marketplace, they are also consumers and they are sometimes as powerless as the ordinary consumer when dealing with a retailer or company.

This motion quite clearly recognises the important role that farmers play in our economy and also in our communities but also puts into context the power imbalance when farmers are trying to deal with multinational companies. One of the matters that gave rise to this motion was in my electorate and one was in the member for Hammond's electorate which he has dealt with. I am happy to say that the matter in my electorate has now been resolved through mutual negotiations, but I still get phone calls from farmers saying that they have some real problems when dealing with multinational machinery firms and that obviously we need to see this in a new light.

My understanding is that, unfortunately, the new consumer law (the national consumer law), which originally had a provision to treat small business as a consumer, does not actually provide for that at the moment, so that is something that this house needs to consider. In future we may have to look at legislation to ensure that farmers are seen not only as small business people but also as consumers, for the reasons I have just outlined.

With those comments, I will end the misery for opposition members, who are embarrassed by the way they have dealt with this matter. I support the recommendation and ask the house to endorse it.

Motion carried.