- Home
- Hansard & Papers
- Legislative Assembly
- 18 October 2005
Rice Industry
Printing Tips |
Print selected text
| Full Day Hansard Transcript
« Prior Item |
Item 27 of 40
| Next Item »
Page: 18772
Urgent Motion
Mr PETER BLACK (Murray-Darling) [7.51 p.m.]: I move:
That this House:
(1) recognises the important contribution the New South Wales rice industry makes to the national economy, providing 8,000 jobs and an annual turnover of $800 million;
(2) notes the threat of the Commonwealth's National Competition Council to impose a $26 million penalty on New South Wales if the rice industry is not deregulated;
(3) condemns the Federal Government for its failure to support the New South Wales rice industry; and
(4) urges The Nationals to join the New South Wales Government in calling for the Federal Government to intervene.
What a disgrace that The Nationals decided not to vote on the urgency of this motion. An even greater disgrace is that the honourable member for Murrumbidgee did not vote. He is in Parliament House but he did not vote in the division. It is an absolute disgrace. The honourable member for Murrumbidgee is not representing his constituents—in fact, he is ignoring them. Where is he? Where is Australopithecus Murrumbidgee encephalitis? He is not in the Chamber.
Mr Daryl Maguire: Point of order: Contrary to standing orders, the honourable member for Murray-Darling is casting aspersions on another member. For the record, the Labor Party requested a pair and the honourable member for Murrumbidgee was paired at Labor's request.
Mr ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr John Mills): Order! There is no point of order.
Mr PETER BLACK: That is irrelevant. We are talking about rice, which is grown in the electorate of the honourable member for Murrumbidgee. It is a disgrace that he is not in the Chamber. On 1 September I took our new Premier to Deniliquin and we toured the rice mill. We were addressed by two great people: Laurie Arthur, the President of the Ricegrowers Association, and Jerry Lawson, the boss of SunRice. Guess what? We said that the New South Wales Labor Government supports the rice industry. That approach is completely different from what we have seen tonight from The Nationals and the honourable member for Murrumbidgee, who is somewhere in the building dogging the debate. There is no other explanation for his absence. I have a media release headed "Disbelief at Decision to Deregulate Rice Industry", which states:
Laurie Arthur today expressed his disbelief at the decision to deregulate the domestic market for rice.
He is absolutely correct. There have been three inquiries into the rice industry and each one has come up trumps. New South Wales has the most efficient rice industry in the world and we are able to compete at an international level. Rice is heavily subsidised overseas. My motion calls on the House to:
recognise the important contribution the New South Wales rice industry makes to the national economy, providing 8,000 jobs and an annual turnover of $800 million.
The New South Wales rice industry is divided between the electorates of Murray-Darling and Murrumbidgee. Let us be fair dinkum about this. About 98 per cent of Australia's rice crop is produced in New South Wales—half in my electorate and half in the electorate of Murrumbidgee—and the majority of that is grown in the Riverina region. The New South Wales rice industry is the largest single-branded processed food exporter in Australia.
We must support SunRice, which is a major player in one of the most efficient industries in the world. I condemn Coalition members for what they have not done—they are guilty of sins of omission. The vertically integrated rice industry is the pride of Australia. Vertical integration has made the industry the most efficient in Australia. As I said, the New South Wales rice industry contributes $800 million a year to the State's economy. The industry employs 8,000 people—roughly 4,000 of whom live in my electorate—and accounts for 20 per cent of all job opportunities in the Riverina. It is very important for communities such as Deniliquin. Some 30 per cent of rice consumed in Australia is imported, and the New South Wales rice industry is not calling for protection, but the rice industry wants a fair go—something The Nationals are set on not giving us. They will not give us any leeway. The dead duck Leader of The Nationals is in the Chamber.
Mr Andrew Stoner: Point of order: The honourable member for Murray-Darling is misleading the House, as usual. There has been no greater advocate for the rice industry in New South Wales than the honourable member for Murrumbidgee. His family are rice growers.
Mr ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr John Mills): Order! There is no point of order. The honourable member for Murray-Darling has the call.
Mr PETER BLACK: That is the greatest load of rubbish under the sun. State Nationals members could have got the Federal Government on side. No wonder they call the Liberal Government the A team and The Nationals the B team. The Nationals should find the spine to stand up for rural Australia. They are absolutely hopeless.
A pretty good group of people was present for the new Premier's visit to Deniliquin on 1 September—by the way, not one member of The Nationals was to be seen. Here he is: the honourable member for Murrumbidgee has finally left his cave and come into the Chamber. Jerry Lawson, the Chair of SunRice, was present, together with Noel Graham, the Chair of the Rice Marketing Board, and Laurie Arthur, the President of the Ricegrowers Association, who is a great personal friend of mine. Labor members support the rice industry. Graham Harvey, the General Manager of Operations for SunRice, and Steve Hartshorn, the Southern Manager for SunRice, were also there.
Under the present marketing arrangements, the New South Wales rice industry is under greater threat than ever before. Under the current Act, all rice grown in New South Wales is vested in the Rice Marketing Board, which provides a single marketing desk for rice, whether for domestic consumption or export. SunRice has achieved more than almost any other Australian company, with no support whatsoever from The Nationals. The party is down to 12 members and is about to become extinct. These arrangements allow our rice growers to compete against heavily subsidised rice products from places such as California and Thailand.
Turning to the heavy stuff, a review in 1995 suggested that domestic arrangements could be removed if the benefits of the export arrangements could be retained through a single national rice export desk. At the time the Commonwealth Government—of which the Federal Nationals are a member—undertook to look at this option. However, in December 2003 Warren Truss advised that the Commonwealth Government had decided not to proceed with the national rice export desk. Why? Because the other States showed little interest in the possibility. But the other States do not grow rice! That is how stupid The Nationals are! The States' reaction was not surprising, given that rice is grown only in Victoria and New South Wales—and, as I said, New South Wales accounts for about 98 per cent of national production.
In the meantime, the State Government extended the rice vesting arrangements until 2009 pending another review of the arrangements being undertaken. The Commonwealth has now threatened New South Wales with a $26 million fine if we continue State-level support for the single desk—which the rice industry demands be supported. The honourable member for Murrumbidgee has been dragged out of his cave and into the Chamber. He and his colleagues refuse to stand up for their electorates. It is no wonder The Nationals are going down the drain very quickly. In 1988 the National Party held 20 seats and now it holds only a dozen, and it will have fewer after the next election. The 1995 review established that the net public benefit of rice vesting would be between $36 million and $45 million in 2000-01. The honourable member for Mount Druitt, a former popular Minister for Agriculture, went to the rice industry, and the rice industry consistently and persistently chose the side of the Labor Government, ignoring the Opposition, whose numbers are decreasing.
Another independent study in 2001 put the net public benefit to Australia even higher, at about $60 million. That is not lining the pockets of producers. We are the most efficient in the world, vertically integrated through the now incorporated SunRice. The 2005 review found that the market premiums from rice exports—estimated at about $48 million per annum—considerably outweigh the cost in the domestic market of little more than $3 million per annum. The hypocrisy of the Coalition Federal Government is a joke. I presume there is a Coalition in the Federal Government: the only Coalition working in this Parliament is between City Labor and Country Labor. In the past seven years the State Government has implemented 69 per cent of its priority competition policy reviews, while the Federal Government has only completed 33 per cent.
In this Chamber we debated the deregulation of the chicken industry. And we know what The Nationals did in the milk debate: it sold out completely and deregulated the industry. The Coalition put half its traditional supporters out of business, it sent them to the wall, and now there are only the big multinationals. The Federal Government told New South Wales to reform a host of Acts to provide safeguards for industry and consumers. I will refer later to what that disgraceful Government is doing. The Commonwealth is not willing to lift even its little finger to do anything about the National Competition Council [NCC]—which was a dreadful lot with Santamaria, and I think The Nationals are marginally worse. The NCC agenda is an absolute disgrace and is doing nothing for the rice industry. It is doing its best to destroy it.
Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI (Murrumbidgee) [8.01 p.m.]: At the outset I want to put on the record that The Nationals and the Liberal Party in New South Wales will not support the Labor Party deregulation of the rice industry that it is going to impose. Members of the Government can make all sorts of excuses and distribute all sorts of press releases that blame the Federal Government, or their cat or dog, about why they want to deregulate the rice industry, but at the end of the day the Labor Government will still introduce legislation to deregulate the rice industry.
Mr Thomas George: Signed off by them!
Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: Signed off by Cabinet and rubber stamped through Caucus. The honourable member for Murray-Darling, a big lion in his electorate, says, "I'm tough. I'll do this," but he will be absolutely silent. He has not made a whimper in Caucus and defended his constituents against what the Labor Party has done. For example, the Government introduced club taxes and the vendor duty, and it abolished the threshold for land tax, and we did not hear a whimper from members of the Government. The Government introduced the cap in New South Wales that had a significant impact on people, particularly in the Murray-Darling irrigation areas, and again we did not hear a whimper from the honourable member for Murray-Darling.
We cannot expect a whimper from him or any other Government member when the Government introduces legislation to regulate the rice industry. The honourable member for Murray-Darling knows that it is not in the interests of the rice industry, the environment or the economy of New South Wales to deregulate the rice industry, but Government members will still support it because, despite record revenues, New South Wales is in such a financial mess. If people in the gallery bought a property or were unfortunate enough to have sold a property while the vendor duty was in place, the Labor Party put its hands in their pocket two times: once when they bought and once when they sold. If they have an investment property the Government has put its hand in their pocket a third time every year for land tax.
We know how much former Premier Bob Carr, the present Premier and the Labor Party have raked from the people of New South Wales over the past 10 years. I refer in particular to property taxes but I am sure a number of our visitors are members of clubs. The Government is taking money out of their pockets again with clubs taxes. If their clubs have increased the price of beer or food at the bistro they can thank the Government. We did not hear a whimper from any of them.
The Government has raked in all that money in the past 10 years, and it has had record levels of GST revenue. Bob Carr signed off on the GST in approximately 1999, and the Government received $1 billion more than what Bob Carr was told he would get. This State has always subsidised Queensland, and unfortunately we probably always will, although we should not have to, as it is doing very well on its own. This Government receives far more revenue than it ever expected. This year New South Wales will have a budget deficit, even though the State has had the best economy it has had for many decades. I am sure many people can remember the dark days of the economies of New South Wales and Australia while Paul Keating and Bob Hawke were in Government.
The past 10 years have been golden years for New South Wales. Property prices have increased and the Government has received record revenue, but now it has no money. It will find itself at least $700 million in deficit this year, in these good times. Thank God times have not been bad. The Government is in such a dire position that it cannot forgo $26 million, despite having forgone it since 1995, when the regulation of the rice industry was first assessed by the National Competition Council. I remind members of the Government that that was introduced by the Federal Labor Party when Paul Keating was Prime Minister. He thought competition was great, and in some ways it was a good thing for the economy. He introduced the National Competition Council, which has now made this decision about the rice industry. I agree with members of the Government who think it is such a disgusting and terrible outcome.
My brother, who is a rice farmer in Griffith, is in the gallery tonight. We love all rice farmers in the Murrumbidgee and the Murray-Darling electorates. We do not want the rice industry deregulated because it is successful and works very professionally as a regulated industry. The Federal Government says it may have to impose the $26 million penalty that has been in place since 1995, which formerly the New South Wales has forgone, but today the Government says it cannot afford to forgo it any longer because New South Wales is in such a crisis. However, only a couple of months ago, without any difficulty, the Government paid something like $37 million to buy Yanga station at Balranald as a national park. It had no trouble finding $2 billion for a desalination plant in Sydney—why not take $26 million from that? The Government has no trouble finding that sort of money when things start getting a bit tough in Sydney.
The Government should not cry that suddenly its budget is in such a crisis and it cannot forgo $26 million and so, as a result, deregulate the rice industry. If it had run the Government and its bureaucracy efficiently and effectively it would not be in the financial mess it is in. The costs have gone through the roof. The Government could not run a chook raffle, as the honourable member for Clarence told the Premier the other day. That is why the Government is in such a financial mess. At the beginning of my speech I intended to say that this will cost the honourable member for Murray-Darling his seat at the next election, but he lost that battle some time ago. Rice growers in New South Wales are concerned about what the Government has done about water reform. The Hume Dam at Albury is at 90 per cent of capacity. That is where the irrigators along the Murray River get their water. It would not take much rainfall to see the dam spill; it is chock-a-block.
The irrigators in the Murray Valley have a 29 per cent water allocation. The dam is full, but they have been allocated 29 per cent. There are a number of reasons for that, but despite the fact that we have had a lot of rain and the Murray has run over the banks a number of times in the past few months, about 300,000 megalitres of water will be released for the Barmah Millewa Forest, which has been receiving water for the past few months. That accounts for 18 per cent of New South Wales' general security along the Murray. The irrigators have had low allocations for the past three years—7 per cent in one year and 21 per cent in another—and this year, although the dam is full, they will get a 29 per cent allocation.
Part of the reason is that the Government must do whatever the Greens say. To get Greens preferences the Government's sop is to deliver 18 per cent of what would otherwise be general security allocation. That would be income to farmers in south-western New South Wales, income for the rice industry and export dollars for Australia. Instead it has been sold out to the Greens in exchange for their preferences. That is what the irrigators and the rice industry will remember about the Labor Party come the next election in 2007. The rice growers are itching to get to the ballot box to get rid of the honourable member for Murray-Darling and to get the Labor Party out of government.
Mr RICHARD AMERY (Mount Druitt) [8.11 p.m.]: I want to make a few comments in this debate, which calls for the Federal Government to intervene in the process of competition policy review of the rice industry. One thing I know about the rice industry and the professional people who run that business is that they are much too professional and mature to cop the stupid argument put to the House by the honourable member for Murrumbidgee. They read Hansard and they will not be fooled for one moment by his contribution. The rice industry is a professional organisation with 8,000 employees and 2,000 producers. It sometimes exports up to 90 per cent of its product and competes against an international rice industry that is heavily subsidised. In some countries, of course, the cost of production is much lower. It is an excellent industry.
The argument that we have been paying competition policy penalties since 1995 is untrue. There have been a number of reviews of the rice industry and I am pleased to say that the Government has accepted there has been a public benefit in keeping regulations in place for the industry. We have been able to negotiate with or stall the Federal Government so that it does not apply financial penalties to the State. That has been a successful tactic by the New South Wales Government since 1995. To the credit of a number of Ministers at the Federal level, none has been stupid enough, game enough or callous enough to apply the penalty to the State because they realise the impact deregulation of the rice industry would have on part of the State.
A number of industries in this country have been deregulated, driven by various reforms. The dairy industry deregulation obviously was engineered from the deregulation of the Victorian industry. The chicken meat industry was deregulated as a result of financial penalty threats. In every case those deregulations affected a number of producers in the industry. In the space of a few years, the number of dairy producers in this State has fallen from about 1,500 to 1,600 to less than 1,000. The impact on the rice industry would be worse and more difficult to absorb because 95 per cent to 98 per cent of the industry is centred in a small part of New South Wales covered by two State electorates, Murrumbidgee and Murray-Darling.
Mr Ian Armstrong: And Lachlan.
Mr RICHARD AMERY: It is the Riverina and Murray regions and a little bit of the Lachlan area. Deregulation would be felt in one area. There are 2,000 producers at present and 8,000 employees. We can see what will happen there. The same thing will happen to the rice industry as happened to the coal industry. Once the producers are on their own, overseas or domestic buyers can come in and pick them off and drive down the price. There will be a dramatic impact on the Murrumbidgee, Murray-Darling and Lachlan areas. We are not asking the Federal Government to give us any money or to pass any legislation. People in the rice industry will be the first to scoff at the suggestion by the honourable member for Murrumbidgee that New South Wales will be the one to undertake the deregulation. That is like blaming a bank teller in a hold-up: he is the one who handed over the money so he is the one at fault. So the State Government will be at fault because it is the one that will deregulate the industry.
The fact is the Federal Government now says it will apply a penalty. I understand it is $26 million; it was $10 million some years ago. That will be applied every year. The State Government cannot afford a financial penalty of that magnitude for every year that it does not deregulate the industry. I do not believe any elected members in the Federal Government or in this State Parliament want deregulation of the rice industry. The National Competition Council has put the recommendation to the Federal Government. This motion asks the Federal Government to intervene and I think the honourable member for Murray-Darling is right in calling on The Nationals to talk to their colleagues and ask them to put the rice industry first. We do not want the Federal Government to give us any money; we do not want it to pass legislation. We want nothing more than a statement from the Federal Government that no penalty will apply if the regulations remain in place. That is all we want. By doing so we will protect this marvellous industry.
Mr IAN ARMSTRONG (Lachlan) [8.16 p.m.]: I move:
That the motion be amended by leaving out paragraph (3).
I make it clear at the outset, as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Leader of The Nationals in the Legislative Council and shadow Minister for Primary Industries and Mineral Resources, the Hon. Duncan Gay, said on 18 October that the Coalition will not support Labor's deregulation of the rice industry. That is a public document. A number of speakers have referred to 1995, but this issue goes back to 1992.
Mr Peter Black: When you were in power.
Mr IAN ARMSTRONG: Quite right. The New South Wales Nationals and our Liberal Party colleagues have been totally consistent. We have refused to entertain in any way at any time deregulation of the New South Wales rice industry. I was the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 1992. We had an extensive look at the rice industry and found one of the most efficient production and marketing operations in Australian history. That standard is still being maintained. Over the years, the rice industry, not only through its research and developments programs but also through its marketing achievements, has gained entry into the extraordinarily closed Japanese market. What a coup that was. Japan needed the rice, but the Australian rice industry is the only industry that has been admitted. The bottom line is there is no way that any member of the New South Wales Opposition, The Nationals in particular, will interfere with an organisation that is as efficient, effective and successful as the New South Wales rice industry. We will support the industry's management practices. I have a media release from the Australian rice industry, which states in part:
Two inquiries have found that Australia is substantially better off under the current arrangements. In fact the most recent independent report found a $45 million net public benefit to the Australian consumer.
Mr Peter Black: I've already said that.
Mr IAN ARMSTRONG: Indeed, the honourable member may have said it. It is worth repeating. He would agree with that. The media release continues:
Why anyone would want to change arrangements that have made our industry one of the nation's most successful, and one that benefits Australians, is beyond me. The Australian rice industry seeks no financial support from any Government, has annual sales of over $800 million and is the major employer in the Riverina region of NSW.
As we emerge from 4 years of the worst drought on record, the Australian rice industry is still incredibly strong and I am confident that we will continue to thrive.
Unashamedly, and with great delight, I congratulate the Australian rice industry on its management and success. We wish it every success in the future because it is an icon in the marketing of primary products. I note that the Minister for Natural Resources, Minister for Primary Industries, and Minister for Mineral Resources said in his press release of 18 October:
As a result, we have no choice but to reframe the marketing arrangements for the domestic sale of rice within NSW.
The Hon. Ian Macdonald is going to cave in. The former Minister for Agriculture, Richard Amery, made it clear and did not cave in, nor did his predecessor, the Hon. Ian Causley, and nor did I. If the Hon. Ian Macdonald caves in, he will be the weak link and he will be responsible for deregulating the industry, which need not be done, should not be done and will not be done so far as the Opposition is concerned. I make it patently clear that the next Minister for Primary Industries in this State, the Hon. Duncan Gay, will not deregulate the industry. The only weak link in the debate is the Hon. Ian Macdonald. Where is his ticker? Where is his strength? Where is his economic rationale, if he has any? He does not understand. He does not have the courage. He does not have the political strength or the business ability to negotiate. He must say to anyone who wants to deregulate the industry, "It's not on. Let us make it clear: it is non-negotiable. I am not prepared to debate it. We are not prepared to discuss it. New South Wales will not, in any way, negotiate a deregulation of the Australian rice industry." The Minister's press release continued:
Under the current Act, all rice grown in the NSW is vested to the Rice Marketing Board, which provides for a single marketing desk for rice, regardless if it is sold for domestic or export consumption.
He is right on that. On the one hand he seems to understand it, but on the other hand he is weak, he is inefficient and he has wasted an opportunity to support our important rice industry. [Time expired.]
Mr STEVE WHAN (Monaro) [8.21 p.m.]: We are debating an important motion. The critical element The Nationals are missing is obvious from what we have heard in the debate and what we have seen. The honourable member for Murrumbidgee preferred to talk about anything but the rice industry. Fortunately, the honourable member for Lachlan has returned from a couple of weeks away and, with his slightly more serious contribution to the debate, he was able to save the honourable member for Murrumbidgee. The critical fact for those in rice-growing areas and in areas represented by the honourable member for Murrumbidgee is that he has once again refused to put pressure on his Federal colleagues—this time not to impose a fine of $26 million on New South Wales.
The Nationals in New South Wales want it both ways. They want to be able to say, "We oppose deregulation. That is the fault of New South Wales." At the same time their Federal colleagues will not say to John Howard, "This just isn't on." New South Wales has done better than average in completing the competition policy reviews. In its 2004 assessment the National Competition Council showed the New South Wales record on completing competition policy reviews was above the national average and well above the Commonwealth average. We have reviewed and reformed 83 per cent of priority legislation while the Commonwealth has managed only 60 per cent. The national average is 74 per cent. New South Wales has done well, yet it is still put under pressure. The simple proposition from the honourable member for Murrumbidgee, which he expects his constituents to believe, is that he opposes deregulation but that New South Wales should cop a $26 million fine. He says, "If you managed better you would be able to afford to pay a $26 million fine, no worries at all." Can any government in Australia afford to give away an amount of money that would employ about 350 teachers and build five or so primary schools?
Mr Richard Amery: Every year.
Mr STEVE WHAN: And do that every year, or employ 300 or so nurses every year. Is the honourable member for Murrumbidgee seriously telling the Chamber that New South Wales taxpayers and residents in rural New South Wales should be dudded out of $26 million because he and his colleagues do not have the guts to tell John Howard that this is not on, that New South Wales should not have to cop a $26 million fine to protect an industry that is doing very well? As the honourable member for Lachlan properly pointed out, it is an industry that is shown in studies to deliver benefits of $45 million to Australia. If there were a bigger clamour from constituents for cheaper rice or more competition, perhaps we could understand it. But who has heard that?
I certainly have not and I am a consumer of rice, as is everyone else in this Chamber. We have not heard people banging on our electorate office doors and saying, "Rice is too expensive, the price has to be brought down." Most of them would say, "We like to buy Australian rice and we want to be able to do it from a viable industry." It is about time The Nationals stood up for that industry. Why is it that the Federal Government is putting pressure on New South Wales? Why is it that on so many issues, such as State funding, the GST distribution that the honourable member for Murrumbidgee mentioned—
Mr Richard Amery: Health funding.
Mr STEVE WHAN: —and health funding, New South Wales is put down by the Federal Government? Let us go back to last year's Liberal Party State Council meeting when John Howard said:
I want to say on behalf of my Federal parliamentary colleagues that we will do everything we can to bring about a change of government here in New South Wales at the next election.
That is what this comes down to; that is the agenda. John Howard in Canberra is saying to the people of New South Wales, "I am prepared to sacrifice your services. I am prepared to sacrifice your rice industry and your wellbeing because I want to help my Coalition colleagues to beat you at the next election." The disgraceful part of it is that those on the other side of the Chamber do not have the guts to stand up to say, "We will have a go at winning the election by putting forward good policy." They just roll over and they say, "All right, John, you do it for us and meanwhile we will let the people of New South Wales suffer." They are doing it for politics. Make no mistake: the rice industry is suffering because of politics. [Time expired.]
Mr PETER BLACK (Murray-Darling) [8.26 p.m.], in reply: I thank those members who have contributed to the debate. I will deal with their contributions one at a time. Once again, the honourable member for Murrumbidgee was an absolute disgrace. Once again, it was the old warhorse from the former Country Party, the honourable member for Lachlan, who had to bail him out. It is fascinating to those in this House that old warhorses seem to know what they are talking about and the younger ones, who do not belong to any spectrum of the traditional old Country Party, seem to have all the say. The honourable member for Murrumbidgee fails to recognise his obligation to address the Federal Government. He was more intent on talking about the supply of water to rice. In the past month the rice industry has congratulated us effusively on our successful negotiation with Snowy Hydro for the release of more water for the rice industry. We should have a good crop.
The honourable member for Mount Druitt made a good contribution. He certainly made a much more sensible contribution than the honourable member for Murrumbidgee. He recounted the history; he recounted his dealings with Federal Ministers. The Minister for Transport and Rural Services, Warren Truss, and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Peter McGauran have presided over fines. It was pure luck that we did not have the infamous Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, John Cobb. I point out to the honourable member for Lachlan that we negotiated with the Japanese in relation to the export of rice, but on the day that the successful negotiation took place, three rice buyers from Japan left the country because they were told they had to deal with a single desk. They were not allowed to use the methodology applied to the sale of coal of playing one seller off against the other.
I congratulate the honourable member for Lachlan on his previous administration as Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs. If he were a Minister in the New South Wales Government, there would be many occasions when Peter McGauran's doors would be kicked down. During the debate the honourable member for Monaro concentrated on Federal funding being slashed and burned, right, left and centre. I will read to the House a press release from the National Competition Council that was circulated only an hour or so ago. The press release states:
It is the Council's role to assess the performance of governments in meeting NCP commitments. Where governments fail to meet the commitments they agreed to, the Council may recommend deductions from the competition payments that are made to governments for meeting NCP commitments.
That is precisely what is being debated and the sensible elements of The Nationals would be the first to agree. The honourable member for Orange and the honourable member for Lachlan would agree with me, which only leaves the honourable member for Murrumbidgee without a clue. The press release continues:
The Council examines NCP reviews to ensure that they are robust and properly justify restrictions on competition in line with commitments made by all Australian governments to the NCP.
NSW's delay in reforming its domestic rice marketing arrangements has been regrettable and inconsistent with its competition policy commitments. Consequently, in its 2004 Assessment, the Council recommended, and the Australian Government subsequently accepted, a suspension of 5% of NSW's 2004-05 competition payments (approximately $13 million).
The next part is important. Perhaps the honourable member for Murrumbidgee should obtain a copy of this press release and read it, or have someone read it to him. The press release goes on to state:
The Council looks forward to the NSW Parliament speedily implementing legislation to reform the regulation of the domestic rice market and thereby open this sector to the benefits of competition.
The Government has argued—and it has been agreed at least between me and the honourable member for Lachlan, a former great leader of The Nationals—that we have the most efficient rice industry in the world—and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The press release goes on to state:
The passages of such legislation will result in the Council assisting NSW as compliant with its National Competition Policy undertakings and therefore there will be no further need for suspension of competition payments.
That statement shows in simple terms that unless New South Wales deregulates, the National Competition Council will continually take $26 million from it. The statement was made today. It is up to the Opposition to lead the way by approaching members of the Federal Liberal Party and The Nationals to convince them of the error of their ways. [Time expired.]
Amendment negatived.
Motion agreed to.
Last modified 05/12/2007 16:32:24 : Update this page