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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-12-05 Daily Xml
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Agricultural Industries

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (14:53): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Can the minister advise the house how the government's policies are helping grow agricultural industries?

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE (Chaffey—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (14:53): I thank the member for Flinders for his very important question, and I am sure that he could express his delight with the season at Edillilie on south Eyre. It has been an outstanding season over there, but sadly the state has seen varied results, particularly over recent weather events.

With respect to agriculture here in Australia and right across regional South Australia, people tell me how happy they are to see a new government in, how happy they are to see a government that actually understands what goes on out past Gepps Cross and above the tollgate. They are happy that they have a minister who is out there visiting their regions, visiting farms, that they have a government that is out visiting the regions on a regular basis.

The Rabobank this week has released its latest farmer confidence survey, and the results for November are great news for agriculture. Thirty-five per cent of South Australian farmers expect—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —agricultural economic conditions to improve in the next 12 months and that is up from 24 per cent last quarter. In total, 72 per cent of South Australian farmers expect agricultural economic conditions to improve or remain the same over the next year.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: What are they complaining about?

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens will cease provoking the member for Narungga.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: By and large, a change of government puts a lot of confidence into the farming sector. The number of South Australian farmers with a negative outlook has fallen from 43 per cent in the last quarter to 25 per cent in this quarter. Ninety-six per cent of South Australian farmers surveyed—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —said they were somewhat or very prepared for drought. I note that the visit by the Deputy Premier and myself—

Mr Malinauskas: Therefore, they get nothing.

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —to Canberra recently to support the Coalition's $5 billion droughtproofing our farms effort was an outstanding success and it shows—

The Hon. A. Piccolo: They took it away from people with disabilities—shame, shame, shame!

The SPEAKER: The member for Light can leave for half an hour under 137A, thank you.

The Hon. A. Piccolo: That's a bit harsh, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: It's one of those days. It was either him or the member for Badcoe.

The honourable member for Light having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: While acknowledging the challenges facing farmers this season, farmers are receiving higher prices across some of the key commodities, and while we have seen a change of government, we have also seen an increase in the price of lamb, beef, wheat, barley, canola—

Mr Hughes: That's got nothing to do with your government.

The SPEAKER: The member for Giles is called to order.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —and wine grapes. It's amazing what a change of government can do to the confidence of the industry. It's amazing what it does.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: Yesterday, I attended the industry's briefing—

Mr Patterson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morphett will stop laughing.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: Yesterday, I attended the national dairy—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —briefing at Hahndorf. We looked at the outlook report and the new Dairy Australia CEO, David Nation, disclosed that here in South Australia we are reigning above the nation's average. We are expected to see a 1 per cent production growth over the next 12 months. This is in contrast to the rest of the country, which is expecting, in contradiction, in milk supply nationally, including in New South Wales and Queensland and particularly Victoria's Goulburn Valley, significant decreases.

We see optimism here in South Australia with developments such as the new Beston mozzarella plant. I note that the Premier was there to open that plant up in October—another outstanding South Australian success story. Our agriculture industries are more confident because they know they have a government that is listening and supporting their needs.

We have delivered, strengthening our biosecurity measures to address Queensland fruit fly pressures, particularly on our borders. We have employed dog trappers to deal with wild dogs, as well as a coordinated baiting program. The farm debt mediation legislation has passed, exempting small farm businesses from payroll tax and, particularly, ESL bills. We have legislated to abolish stamp duty on multiperil crop insurance. Sir, there is more because hashtag #RegionsMatter.

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