Agricultural Industry

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:36): Supplementary question.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Just before your supplementary, the Hon. Mr Wortley, I want to listen to the supplementary question to make sure it is arising—

The Hon. R.P. Wortley interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Wortley!

The Hon. H.M. Girolamo: Chuck him out.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Girolamo!

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: Given the minister talked about current policy, can she rule out any future policy of a state-based carbon tax or levy on livestock producers?

The PRESIDENT: You can answer, if you want, minister.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:36): What I would like to talk about, in terms of policy, is our excellent and relevant to the question net zero agriculture policy.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I will listen to the very short remainder of this answer and then we are moving on.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Thank you, Mr President. I am delighted to talk about net zero agriculture in terms of our future. The Labor government has committed $8.4 million over five years towards a low-emission intensity farming system initiative. One of the excellent things about this is that it will leverage commonwealth and industry contributions of $16 million over five years, providing a total program budget of $24.4 million. This is important to maintain market access and also competitiveness in the global agricultural market.

South Australian producers need to be able to demonstrate their commitment to reducing emissions. We know a lot of our agricultural sectors have been very active in this space, but they need to be able to demonstrate that to their markets. Using sustainable agricultural practices is something that is a key part of that and something that our government will continue to support our farmers to do.