Dairy Concessional Loans

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (14:32): Will the minister commit to amending the Natural Resources Management Act so that water licences in South Australia can be counted as an asset and put South Australian farmers on an equal playing field with their Victorian counterparts?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (14:33): We're looking at absolutely everything. We want to get this money to people. We want to help the farmers out. I just said in my previous answer that I have written to the Minister for Water Resources, and we want to find an answer. We want to get through there.

As I said, we can't help those other 240-odd farmers, though. If they need assistance, they need to at least make the application, and if they get rejected then we can work out the reasons why they have been rejected. But we've got six: we've had two approved, we've got one not approved—

Mr Bell: Only two? $15 million, only two approved.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: We've only had six applicants, and we've got three that are still under consideration.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is called to order for quarrelling with the member for Mitchell.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: We will look at everything we possibly can, and that includes working with Barnaby Joyce at the federal level. We had the same thing with the drought concessional loans as well. What we want to do is make sure that we can get as much money as we possibly can in to the farmers who are struggling and keep them out there producing the high-quality milk that they do. It's interesting, when you look at our herd numbers, that they have halved in the past few decades, but our production has stayed the same because we have doubled the output in our dairy herd, which is a tremendous tick to all those people involved in the industry. The quality of the milk here in South Australia is better than anywhere else. I also remind people that we need to hit Coles and Woolworths as well because they have a role to play in this. It all comes back, like so many things in life—

Mr Bell: They can't access the loans, Leon. Let's keep on the loans.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: We shouldn't be in the position where we have to give people loans. We shouldn't be in that position.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: We shouldn't.

Ms Sanderson: We are, and how are you going to fix it?

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is warned.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: We've got Coles and Woolworths out there who took the $1 a litre of milk and absolutely wrecked an industry. We've got Murray Goulburn and Fonterra. Let's sheet home—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is warned for applauding in question time.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Let's sheet home the blame to those people who are really hurting farmers. We got PIRSA to make a submission to the federal inquiry that the federal government is running, and I hope that there is input from people on the other side here as well because we need to tell the story about what has happened to our farmers. This is the bandaid. The loans are the bandaid. The real problem that needs fixing is the duopoly with Coles and Woolworths, and it's the problem that we've got with Murray Goulburn and Fonterra. We want to help them, but there needs to be some—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader has interjected again after being warned three times. She will cease interjecting.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: So, we want to help these farmers, but there also needs to be some major structural changes to the retail sector and to the processing sector as well. For one thing, in the retail sector, we have a third player in terms of the Foodlands and IGAs which really help us at that retail level. We also have a number of wonderful processors here as well—Fleurieu Milk, B.-d. Farm and many other milk processors—that we are very fortunate to have in South Australia so that we don't have as many people—

The SPEAKER: The minister's time has expired. The member for MacKillop has a supplementary.