Grain Industry

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:35): My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Does the minister support the CFS having powers to force farmers to stop harvesting, or does the minister agree with the chief executive of Grain Producers SA, Caroline Rhodes, who has labelled proposed CFS powers to prevent farmers from harvesting as not necessary and that they could affect the livelihood of primary producers?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:36): I thank the member for her ongoing interest in regional South Australia. That was a bill, I think, that's been tabled in the House of Assembly in relation to a whole range of factors, but one of them is harvesting during the fire season. I expect that as a good government we will have a discussion and talk about how we might impact things. Clearly—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I actually have driven a harvester on Christmas Day, on a number of days.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I think probably—I don't know—John Dawkins probably has; I doubt whether anybody else—

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE: On Christmas Day?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Christmas Day, any day. If the weather conditions, because it was too hot the day before and it was too hot the day after, so you actually did it on the day, because unlike the members opposite—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition! Allow him to talk about his header.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Unlike the members opposite, who suck on the teat of the union movement and the taxpayer, most of us have actually been in business. You actually don't want to put the community at risk by harvesting on a fire ban day, but if it was a cool day on Christmas Day, you'd actually get out and do it, because it's your livelihood. You can't wait or work the 36½ hours a week, you know, the nine-day fortnights like the mob opposite do and still make money.

The point I make is we will sit down and have a chat with the farming community and have a look at this legislation. I think what they are trying to do is capture the people that perhaps thumb their nose at the rules, so we want to make sure that we have a robust set of rules in place so that the community is not put at risk, but we certainly don't want to affect and impact on farmers' livelihoods.