Well thank you very much Mr Mayor, Warren Entsch, my colleague and the Member for Leichhardt, Deputy Prime Minister, Ministers, Senators, ladies and gentlemen.
I';ve come here today with my colleagues, as I will go to Mackay later on this morning, to listen to the direct concerns of the industry. We are willing to provide further assistance to the sugar industry. We do recognise that largely, through no fault of its own, the industry is facing a very difficult time, largely because of the corruption of world markets by the heavy subsidies paid by many countries to their sugar producers. The price of sugar is at a very low level, the returns are poor and the challenges are therefore enormous.
So we come as friends, but we also come carrying the responsibility to spend taxpayers'; money wisely. Therefore, the solutions we provide must pass the test of a wise expenditure of taxpayers'; money. We understand that circumstances will differ in different parts of far north Queensland, as they do all along the Queensland coast and down into New South Wales. But, overwhelmingly, the industry is afflicted with the same problems deriving from the corruption of world markets.
I am acutely aware of the sense of disappointment the industry felt in relation to there not being anything on sugar in the United States Free Trade Agreement. The Americans would not budge on that – simple as that. We tried, we tried very hard, Mark Vaile tried very hard. It was an issue that was made very clear to me in the final discussion I had with President Bush, that the strength of domestic opinion on that matter was such that the Americans were not prepared to concede and we had the difficult choice of scuttling the whole deal on the basis that we couldn';t get something on sugar and thereby denying other sectors, or accepting it on the terms that we have accepted, which will deliver major benefits to other sectors of the Australian economy. And in doing so, I know that there is a keen sense of disappointment amongst all of you – I understand that. And that is one of the reasons why I made it very clear the weekend the Free Trade Agreement was announced that we would endeavour to provide a sensible further assistance package. We have already announced some income support measures. I don';t want anybody to see them as being in a way part of the final package, but rather as an earnest… as an illustration of our goodwill and our understanding that some people are suffering particular hardship.
That really is all I wanted to say. I don';t want to make long speeches. I really want to hear from you because you';re the people that have got a challenge. We feel for you. We won';t be able to give the industry everything they';ve asked for, but we';ll try and be fair. We';ll try and look to the future. We don';t want to pointlessly expend money, we want to expend money in a way that will help people diversify and will help people restructure so they can operate more viably. In some cases, people do have to be given enhanced assistance to re-establish outside the industry. I say re-establish rather than exit because I want to look at it from a positive point of view. I am prepared to say that the existing re-establishment grants are probably short of what is needed to provide a fair level of assistance and incentive and that';s one of the things that we';ll be looking at.
We have had some preliminary discussion inside the Government. We haven';t made any final decisions on how we will assist or to what degree. We';ll do that after we have completed these discussions and some discussions in Mackay and some further discussions with people over the next little while. We';ll come to a decision fairly soon. I won';t commit myself to a date or a week – that';s silly. But it will be as soon as reasonably possible. We come in no sense as benign liquidators of the industry. We come rather as good friends who are trying to provide some practical help, but also having regard to our responsibility to spend the money of the Australian taxpayer in a sensible way.
Thank you.
[discussion forum]
CLOSING REMARKS
Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have to go in a moment to get a plane to Mackay.
This has been very valuable for me. If I can pick up on that last comment, something';s either true or false. It is true that your industry is in a very very difficult position, largely through no fault of your own. I mean no industry is perfect, but the predicament you have is a result of world trading practices.
I don';t think the European Union is going to change its farm policies in the foreseeable future. I have no sense of hope or optimism about that and I don';t think the Americans are going to walk away from a high level of agricultural protection, nor do I believe the Japanese are going to do it. And we have to, we have to deal with that reality. I';m not pretending that. I mean, I';m a realist and that';s… I mean, I';ve been complaining about the European Union for the whole time I';ve been in politics. The second ministerial job I had was Minister for Special Trade Negotiations in 1977 trying to get a better trade deal in Europe. I didn';t do very well, but then neither have any of… essentially any of my successors.
We will try and help you. There';ll be some things that we won';t do that you';ve asked for today. I have to be honest with you. There are other things that we will very very seriously consider. We want to help you get into alternatives to sugar. There is a very strong message coming through today that alternatives are the things that people are looking for. I';m conscious of the fact that you';ve got to survive so you can get into something – I';m conscious of that. I';m also very conscious of the fact that some people do need help to re-establish elsewhere.
I was struck by the comments about the inter-generational transfer issue. That';s obviously something that does cause a lot of difficulty and that will be looked at as part of the overall approach.
Could I just say that I am very conscious of the social implications of this and I';m acutely aware that at a time when the nation as a whole has probably not been stronger economically, people who are missing out, not because they';re lazy, but because they';ve been done in by bad world trading practices, feel a particular sense of grievance and disadvantage. And I am most conscious of that.
And can I finally say that the attitude taken by the industry, as expressed here today by one of your spokesmen and also by Mr Ballantyne on behalf of the canegrowers, that notwithstanding your own sense of disappointment, you supported the Government';s decision to enter into the Free Trade Agreement because you knew it was in Australia';s overall interests. And that';s the kind of thing that is, I guess, illustrative of the kind of good people that are in this industry. You';re putting Australia';s interest ahead of your own sense of disappointment and that has not gone unremarked or unnoticed as far as I';m concerned. And I thank you very warmly for your sense of commitment to Australia';s long term national interest because it is in our interest to have that agreement and it will be of great benefit to many of your fellow Australians in other industries.
But thank you for having us. We';re going to go off to Mackay now and listen to some more people and meet some more people. But I wish you well. I hope what we come up with will help and I';ll do my level best to get a fair balance between helping an industry that deserves help and a wise expenditure of taxpayers'; money.
[ends]