Mr PERRETT (Gympie—LNP) (8.14 pm):
I rise to speak on the budget estimates report No. 38 from the Agriculture and Environment Committee. Agriculture and fishing are pillars of the Queensland economy. A reasonable person would assume that the Labor government would support these productive industries by reducing red tape and overheads, making it safer, easier and cheaper to transport goods to markets and tackle feral pests and invasive weeds. That reasonable person would therefore be shocked by the contempt shown by the minister for the estimates process and for the agriculture and fishing sectors. Estimates was clearly an irritant and inconvenience to the minister, who debated issues and employed time-wasting and delaying strategies to duck questions.
Nothing has changed despite the revolving door of ministers overseeing this policy. Previously, an incompetent minister did not know what was going on. Now we have a minister who is not interested. The minister preferred to answer Dorothy Dixers about the relocation of a federal government pesticide and veterinary medicines authority from Canberra to Armidale or talk about imports and trade, even while acknowledging it was not within the portfolio. Meanwhile, the Labor committee chair ran protection, including ruling out of order a question on what measures were introduced in the budget to help farmers tackle record high electricity prices. This is despite the QFF saying that the No. 1 issue across agriculture and for many other regional businesses is unsustainable electricity prices. Growcom said—
For our growers, whilst electricity prices are so high and continuing to spiral upwards, pretty much everything else is a secondary consideration.
The Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation said that one of its biggest issues remains electricity prices.
Commitment to rural and economic development stops at the minister’s title. When asked where it was in the SDS the minister said, ‘I think the allocation is there.’ He then proceeded to get tied up in knots about a three-year $5.2 million allocation equating to $1.2 million across three initiatives. The minister could not even provide a break-up of the only program which references the minister’s title and responsibilities.
The government promised a jobs bonanza. This is supposed to be a jobs budget, yet the minister could not identify how much funding was allocated to the Rural Jobs and Skills Alliance. He could not identify it in a line item and refused or, more disturbingly, could not even name how many jobs the government created in the sector in the last financial year. The following exchange says it all—
Mr MILLAR: … the minister has gone on now for about six or seven minutes without actually giving a figure of how many jobs have been created.
Mr BYRNE: How long is a piece of string?
Mr MILLAR: Say yes or no.
Mr BYRNE: What a bloody ridiculous question to ask.
Mr MILLAR: How many jobs have you created?
Mr BYRNE: … How long is a piece of string?
I certainly do not seek briefs and aggregation of their efforts, and why would I? What I receive is feedback about the success or otherwise of the intent of the program.
As far as I am concerned about government expenditure, that is exactly what I want; it is exactly what the government wants.
I am not going to get down into how many jobs, in which month or where they are. It is doing exactly what we expect it to do and I am very pleased about it.
Here is a minister who is happy to spend money but not ask about whether it is being spent prudently or wisely; a minister who cannot name how many jobs have been created but still claims the program is successful. No wonder both the QFF and AgForce said that this budget is underwhelming and outlines no clear vision for agricultural industries.
The Minister for Environment and National Parks confirmed that Labor will strangle rural landholders with anti-agriculture tree-clearing laws while funding groups which relentlessly campaign against landholders using questionable vegetation clearing rates which do not mention regrowth and thickening. This same department has budgeted $8.5 million to conduct pest and weed management in 13.5 million hectares of national park—which equates to 44 cents per hectare—while relying on graziers who hold leases in national parks to routinely keep them free of weeds, feral animals and reduce fire loads at no expense or cost to the taxpayer. The agricultural sector needs the right framework to grow and realise its potential. Queensland is stagnating. The community needs leadership, and all we have is a government that does nothing. We urgently need a common-sense government that listens, plans and acts to build a better Queensland.