Grievance Debate

Natural Resources Management Levy

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (15:09): I rise today to talk about the NRM levy. Make no mistake, this will cost jobs in the South-East. To think of a government that wants to slug an additional $6.7 million through the disguise of an NRM levy is absolutely outrageous. The fact that the agriculture minister will not answer a question in here about that is equally outrageous.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Point of order, Mr Speaker. The member for Mount Gambier has accused me of not answering a question in this place. It was a question asked on a matter that I have no responsibility for. It is the responsibility of the minister in another place.

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, sir. This is not a point of order. The minister is out of order and should be thrown out for interrupting a grieve.

The SPEAKER: Could the member for Mount Gambier be seated while I deal with this? The appropriate course would be for the minister to make a personal explanation at the end of grievances. I had mercy on the member for Bragg making a bogus point of order. Accordingly, I will not remove the minister under the standing order. Member for Mount Gambier.

Mr BELL: Thank you, sir, and for clarity, my question related to the productivity for agriculture once this $6.7 million slug occurs to primary producers. Make no mistake, this will cost jobs. I want members of the house to understand exactly what this $6.7 million extra slug on primary producers is going to do. The people of the South-East will be contributing 33 per cent of that money to the state coffers. Many businesses will see an increase from the current $42 to many thousands of dollars for the NRM levy. Businesses like Carter Holt Harvey, Kimberly-Clark, OneFortyOne, various timber mills, Kraft cheese factory all employ large numbers of people. It is good that our Treasurer is here today to listen to this, because this will cost jobs.

How can you expect businesses that are running on paper thin margins to go from an NRM levy of $42 a year to the $10,000-plus mark. In fact, if my calculation is correct, one of the organisations that I have just mentioned will go from $42 to $18,000 per year every year. That is of great concern to my residents and it is of great concern to me, and I want to make sure that this parliament understands what is actually going on.

In case the government does not realise it, most farmers are asset rich but cash poor. We are in the grip of a drought in the South-East, particularly in the Upper South-East, with below average rainfall, which is costing yields and costing revenues. To have this type of burden come on top of low yields and low revenue is going to hurt many farmers. In fact, I have had a number of farmers say to me that it will bring them to the brink of selling up, all at a time when agriculture should be the bright star in the economy.

We have Chinese investment looking at dairy farms. We have milk factories starting up, and when they start to look at their costs and where to establish these factories—South Australia or 15 minutes across the border into Victoria—I want to make sure that South Australia stacks up every time. The problem is that levies, fees and high electricity prices are forcing many businesses to evaluate their viability and possibly move across the border to Victoria which, as I said, is only about 15 minutes away. I call on the Minister for Agriculture to stand up to this government. I call on the Minister for Agriculture to support the farmers of the South-East and other catchment areas and fight for them and make sure that they get—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: Stop grandstanding.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Mr BELL: —a fair deal, because if you do not get it, move out and let somebody else come in this place who will fight for farmers and agriculture. Stop pretending to be just the Minister for Tourism; come out and be the Minister for Agriculture.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: That's what I do; that's what I do every day. Stop grandstanding, you clown.

Mr BELL: Clown? That's a new one.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am on my feet. Grievances need to be heard in silence. I remind everybody, but particularly the Minister for Agriculture, that 131 must be observed at all times. You can have an opportunity to respond in your own time later if you wish.

Mr BELL: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. All I will finish with is that I would like this house to understand what a $6.7 million extra tax on the people of South Australia, particularly primary producers, is going to do to that industry. It is going to destroy it, it is going to cost jobs, and I am asking for the minister to stand up and defend those people.