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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-06 Daily Xml
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Question Time

AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:21): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries a question regarding the future of South Australia's agricultural industries.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: On 28 August, Treasurer Snelling proclaimed that agriculture will fill the gap left by the shelving of the Olympic Dam expansion. The Treasurer went on to state that he, the Premier and members of the cabinet will be working their hardest to find new projects to fill this gap. Mr President, you might be interested to learn that, since the 2008-09 budget, the agriculture industry has seen a $201 million reduction in operating expenditure, not including another $11 million to be reduced by 2015-16 and a further $53 million reduction in the net cost of providing services. In addition, the 2010-11 budget announced another $80 million cut over four years, and a further $12 million was cut in the 2012-13 budget. My questions are:

1. Does the minister agree with the Treasurer's statement that agriculture is to be the state's growth industry now that the Olympic Dam expansion has fallen over and given that the government has cut over $100 million and 400 jobs in the primary industries department in recent budgets?

2. Given that the government expects agriculture to be the state's growth industry now that the Olympic Dam expansion has fallen over, why has the industry seen such budget cuts?

3. What new projects will the government be introducing that will support this important agriculture industry?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:22): I thank the honourable member for his most important question and an opportunity to talk about some of the wonderful achievements of this government in supporting our very important agriculture industry. I have already talked in this place about the importance of not talking down South Australia's economy and South Australian industries. We know that the announcement was that the Olympic Dam project is going to be deferred. We know that the opposition has tried to use that to scaremonger and create doubt, apprehension and a lack of confidence in our marketplace, which is a highly irresponsible thing to do.

Nevertheless, I have talked in this place before about the fact that there is a mining boom happening in this state that does not just rely on Olympic Dam. I have put the figures on record here before from back in the time when the opposition was in power. You could count on one hand (less than one hand) the number of mines that were operating, and now we have around about 11 that are operating or have been approved and about to go into operation, and we have 30-odd more of these projects in the pipeline.

We have seen that there is a significant mining and resources boom occurring; and our resources are still there, they are still in the ground, they still belong to us and we have an industry that is very busy taking full opportunity to develop and advance that particular sector. So to suggest that, because of one decision that was made, everything is doom and gloom, is absolute nonsense and we have many other viable sectors as well. Agriculture is one of those sectors, and I am happy to come back in a minute and talk in more detail about that sector. I have also talked in this place about the importance of our tourism sector growth.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: You've supported that really well with the visitor information centre haven't you?

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Tourism is a very important economic driver to this state and our regions and I have put that on the record on numerous occasions and, if the opposition wants me to, I am happy to put those details back on the record. There is a net growth in our tourism here in this state and, in the domestic markets, almost all the indicators of tourism growth have not only increased but surpassed national averages. Overall, South Australia's tourism is growing and that is no mean feat, particularly given this very difficult economic climate. There are many sectors that underpin the prosperity of this state, and agriculture is one of them, and a very important plank to this government's seven priorities is premium food and wine from a clean environment.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: If you keep intervening, I will go longer. I will double that: I will use the whole hour. There is so much I would like to say about agriculture, so just keep intervening.

An honourable member: Why don't you talk about agriculture for a change?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: That is what I am talking about. I am talking about our premium food and wine products coming from a clean environment. They are not even listening. That is one of the seven key planks of this government, and agriculture is a sector that very much underpins that. It just so happens that I recently announced some of the outcomes that I achieved from my recent trip to China where an MOU was signed to look at cooperating with the Fujian Province to establish a centre there that incorporates accreditation for food, health and safety standards.

The Chinese are very interested in looking at our technology and science around food standards and the centre would also include a retail and wholesale outlet. The Chinese indicated that they were incredibly interested in our premium food and wine products and also very interested in those aspects around our technology and biosecurity systems to ensure safe, good quality food. Two centres that we looked at in China indicated interest to really build on this, and it would very much assist our primary produce markets to directly sell through these outlets.

One of the things that our primary producers are saying is that under the current system it is very difficult using these exporters to move our produce into China. Our primary produce people lose control over being able to position and market their products because we do not have access to the complete market supply chain. These new projects—I was in China and signed an MOU, or was party to a signature—would help overcome that, so this is very much being embraced by our growers, and this is just one example.

The sort of primary produce that the Chinese indicated interest in was obviously our fisheries and our seafood and aquaculture. They particularly have a lot of interest in rock lobster and abalone, but they are interested in all of our fisheries and, really, most of our primary produce. They are net importers and consider Australia's primary produce to be of high quality and, as I said, they are very much impressed with our quality standards.

These are just some examples of the work that this government is doing to develop not just future markets but long-term sustainable markets so that our primary industries can grow and develop, and this is a very important step forward and a really valuable initiative in terms of our agriculture sector.

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