Thank you De-Anne, John Anderson, Warren Truss, Ian Macdonald, Ron Boswell, my fellow Australians.
I';ve come here today just to say a few words very simply to you. We understand that your industry is in a very parlous state, largely through unfair trading practices and not through the inefficiency or the inadequacies of the industry. I have to be honest and say and that I don';t see the great trading blocs of the world changing their more restrictive practices in relation to primary production, which is inflicting such pain on Australian farmers in many sectors. And I know that it';s particularly hard at a time when the nation overall is doing so well economically, that you should be in a sector that is suffering. I know the sense of disappointment you felt about being excluded from the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. We decided in the end that because of the gains that were clearly to be had in other areas, that it would not have been in the interests of Australia overall to walk away from that Free Trade Agreement because we hadn';t got everything we wanted, and in the case of sugar, anything that we had asked for and negotiated hard to gain.
I said at the time the Free Trade Agreement was announced that we would provide additional assistance to the sugar industry over and above what has already been on the table, and I';ve come here today to repeat that commitment. I announced last week in the Parliament that the Government had decided to provide some income support, not only for the value it will bring to the people who benefit from it, but as a demonstration of our good faith. I don';t see that as being a major component of any rescue package, but it';s necessary support for some people who have no income at all and are in need of that kind of support.
I understand from the discussions I';ve had already that there are a range of views as to what the Government might do. We do intend to help you. We, obviously, in the nature of things, will not be able to accede to every request that is put to us. But we do genuinely want to help in a way that helps you build a better future, and where it is the decision of individual growers and their families, provide you with what I choose to call re-establishment assistance rather than exit assistance to provide a better future.
I';m aware that there are many people who argue that there are alternative uses of cane and that there is very much a future beyond sugar. I want to hear more about that. That seems to be a common theme of many of the arguments that have been put to us.
Can I say that I really do feel sorry for an industry that contains thousands of good hardworking Australians who, because of the world market conditions, have fallen on hard time. And we want to help. We want to direct that help in the most intelligent way. But I also, of course, have an obligation as Prime Minister to see that taxpayers'; money is expended in a wise and sensible fashion and a fashion that is going to build greater productivity and greater hope for the future.
That is really all I want to say at this stage. I really have come to listen, as have my colleagues. I';ve brought with me my friend and my colleague and somebody who understands rural Australia extremely well, John Anderson the Deputy Prime Minister, and Warren Truss the Minister for Agriculture, and Ian Macdonald, one of our Senators from north Queensland and Ron Boswell, who many of you will have a passing acquaintance with I';m sure.
But ladies and gentlemen, it';s very nice to be here. And can I express my thanks to Ashley and Madonna Stevens for the courtesy that they have extended in allowing us to come on to their property and to use this wonderful shed for this gathering. And it really is a great experience to talk to my fellow Australians in far north Queensland, to hear what you';ve got to say. I know you';re going through a hard time. I';ll try and help. I won';t be able to satisfy every expectation, but consistent with the other obligations I have, I will do my best.
Thank you very much.
[discussion forum]
CLOSING REMARKS
Ladies and gentlemen, this has been for me a very educative process and I would have reckoned after almost 30 years in Parliament and eight years as Prime Minister, I knew a few things about different industries in the country, but I';ve learnt some things about the sugar industry today I didn';t previously understand.
One of the speakers, I think the gentleman who is there, I think he';s outside at the moment, asked me about what our view was, our passion or our vision for rural Australia was. As you know, I, unlike the Deputy Prime Minister, I grew up in a suburb of Sydney and my father was a small businessman, he owned a garage in Dulwich in the inner suburbs of Sydney and my first job was serving petrol when I was about 14 or 15. I learnt a very simple lesson then that the customer was always right and I';ve sort of never forgotten it through life.
But the point of all that is that although I grew up in the suburbs of Sydney, I';ve always had a very deep respect for the contribution that rural Australia has made to our nation, not only its wealth, but also its spirit and its character. And I';ve often said that I can';t imagine what Australia would be like if we ever lost the critical mass of our rural industries, not only for the economic loss that would be represented by that eventuality, but also for what you could loosely call the character or spiritual loss that the company would suffer.
Now not all of rural Australia at the moment is experiencing the same conditions. Some parts of rural Australia are doing quite well, other parts are not doing well at all and your industry is one of them. The best things that we can provide to the rural industries of Australia will always be the basically sound economic settings. The greatest curse of a prosperous rural industry for Australia is something like high interest rates and bad industrial relations and rampant unions that cause your, if you';re an exporter, your produce to rot on the wharfs while they settle their industrial dispute. And our goal will always be to provide things like low interest rates and good industrial relations and a sound economy.
I know that a lot of farmers at the present time in all industries are looking at the Australian dollar, and they look at it from day to day and from week to week. I understand that, and I';m no clairvoyant when it comes to the future of the Australian dollar. All I can say is that if we hadn';t have had a floating exchange rate a few years ago when the Asian economic crisis overwhelmed this country, we';d have been sucked into the black hole with all of those other countries. And it was in fact the flexibility of our exchange rate that saved so many of our industries.
There were a couple of specific points that were raised and I';ll try and recall them as quickly as I can. There was something said about foreign aid. I understand the feeling about foreign aid. Can I just say in defence of it, and that may not be popular, but can I say a couple of things in its defence. Firstly, somebody mentioned China. China is becoming one of Australia';s best customers. Our exports to China have more than doubled over the last five years. Now, it doesn';t flow through sadly to your industry, but if you';re looking at the national interest, China is an incredibly valuable customer, and we';ve been able to get closer to our traditional allies while at the same time building a very close relationship with China. Papua New Guinea was also mentioned. I understand the point about sugar, but from our nation';s point of view, if Papua New Guinea falls over, and it';s in a very fragile state, that will have big implications for our country. It';s in the interests of Australia to help Papua New Guinea and stop it falling over, just as it';s in the interests of Australia to help the Solomon Islands.
But I haven';t come here particularly to talk about stopping Papua New Guinea falling over. You really want me stop your industry falling over, and I understand that. I could almost sense the interjection coming.
But ladies and gentlemen, I';ve been asked to look at aspects of national competition policy. It doesn';t rate very highly in this audience. I certainly get that impression very strongly. It';s… in some areas, greater competition has benefited the whole country; greater competition in some aspects of finance, in some areas of financial provision that make some contribution towards lower interest rates; greater competition in some areas of communications have led to lower communications charges. I understand the point being made and I';ll think about the arguments being put in relation to that ministerial directive. I think there are arguments on both sides of that. But the gentleman who raised it challenges me intellectually to satisfy myself that the current policy is correct and I';ll do that. I';m never afraid to challenge some of the conventional wisdom in these things.
I don';t come here as an ideologue. I believe in good economic policy. I believe the greatest thing my government has done for this nation is to give it a sound economy, to give it low interest rates and low debt and low inflation and much lower unemployment. And I';ll never walk away from policies that deliver those things overall to the nation. But within that, there has to be room to recognise that not every industry is sharing in equal the benefits of national prosperity. I understand that. And that really is what you';re saying to me today. That okay John, the nation may be doing well, but what about us? We';ve worked our guts out and we';re not getting a share of it. And that is the sense that I get.
Now I';ll go away, I';ll talk to my colleagues. Can I say what a great champion your industry has in De-Anne. She really is a great fighter for your industry. She really is. She';s been the chairman… she';s worked with the sugar industry taskforce, and she';s been a great champion of the industry. But look, enough. I';d like to meet a few more of you before I go. But we';ll go away and we';ll think about what you';ve said and we';ll come back with some responses. You won';t like it all and you';ll say he should have done that and he should have done something else. I understand that. I say that now, but we';ll try and address it conscientiously.
And can I finally say that the lady who spoke of her four sons, and can I say that that was in a way the most touching and moving part because in the end good economic policy is not some kind of end in itself. Unless it produces human contentment and happiness and a fair share for the people who work hard, then it';s not working. And I';m very conscious of the human element and I';m painfully aware of the spectre of suicide in times of economic distress. I do understand that and it';s for that more than anything else that we have an obligation to do our best.
Thank you for giving us a hearing. I';ve enjoyed listening to what you';ve got to say and I';d like to meet some of you before I go back south. And good luck to all of you and it';s a privilege to be in your company.
Thank you.
[ends]