State Budget

The Hon. B.R. HOOD (15:15): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development regarding the upcoming state budget.

Leave granted.

The Hon. B.R. HOOD: Primary producers and farmers are fed up with the commonwealth government, following Labor's recent federal budget. The National Farmers' Federation staged an unprecedented walkout on the agriculture minister's budget address after a sudden decision to ban live sheep exports. Now, for the first time in 39 years, the National Farmers' Federation has declared they no longer have confidence in the government of the day to represent their interests, that government being the Albanese government.

When the South Australian primary industries and regional development minister is asked by the opposition to advocate on our state sector's behalf to her federal colleagues, we are consistently rebuffed and told that it is not her responsibility to do so. My question to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development is: can the minister assure this place that farmers and primary producers are better off as a result of the upcoming state budget or, based on the minister's previous answers to similar questions, will the minister just pass the buck and continue to blame others for her inability to deliver for our primary industries sector?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:16): I thank the honourable member for his question, despite the fact it has a number of inaccuracies. To describe the federal government's decision to ban live sheep exports as sudden is quite remarkable, given that the federal Labor Party took it to the last two elections. That's quite a number of years, so to describe that as sudden is quite remarkable.

I think what is really important to note in terms of the basis of the question, vague though it is, is that we have a very good working relationship with the primary production sectors here in South Australia. In fact, in a letter I think in the Stock Journal last week, certainly within the past week, Professor Simon Maddocks, while understandably criticising the federal government, did remark—I can't remember the exact words, but words to this effect—what a productive and positive relationship Primary Producers SA has with this current state government.