Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:50):
I thank Senator Macdonald for that question and recognise his great support and passion for the North Queensland agricultural industry in particular and the great sugar industry around the Burdekin, where Senator Macdonald hails from. Senator Macdonald is right to highlight the fact that this government understands that, for our farming sector to do better and for our farmers to be able to provide for their families and stay on the land, they need to be able to sell their products. They've got to have markets to sell the products to. They've got to have growing markets to get more money to stay competitive and also to make sure they keep the bank happy and the wife happy and the family happy and all those things happy. That's what they need. That's why, as a government, over the last six years we have signed new trade agreements with Japan, with China, with Korea, through the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreements and with Indonesia more recently—all massive markets for our farming produce. Those agreements have helped agricultural producers make more money.

I'm going to raise one particular highlight—one particular individual circumstance that is well known to Senator Macdonald: 2PH Farms down at Emerald and the Pressler family. I know Senator Macdonald, through his career, has helped them significantly through different issues, such as viruses and what have you, but they've also benefited significantly from this government's conclusion of particularly the Chinese free trade agreement, which has allowed great Central Queensland citrus products to go into the growing market of China. It has allowed that business to expand. It employs hundreds of people in Emerald and is contributing to the Central Queensland economy of that area, all thanks to the fact that we're getting more markets open.

That's why in the budget last night we also further announced $30 million to enhance Australia's agricultural trade. This will help farmers overcome some of the non-tariff barriers that exist. Most of the tariff barriers are gone or are being removed, but sometimes it's hard to get products classified and approved through customs in different countries. This funding will help farmers navigate that process, open up more markets and get more income and provide more jobs in regional communities.

The PRESIDENT: 
Senator Macdonald, a supplementary question?

Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:53):
I recognise the fact that Senator Macdonald represents some of the areas that have been impacted the hardest by drought, including around Townsville and having visited Giru a few weeks ago and seen the impact on the cane fields there, which was not as devastating as we saw in the gulf areas with the cattle industry but still a big impact for those farmers. That's why we announced more than $6 billion of drought funding in the budget last night and over $3 billion in flood relief. That includes the immediate $75,000 grants we provided to farmers impacted by this flood. That's three times the normal level, given the significance of this event. In recent weeks, we've announced that we'll make available up to $400,000 in grants to graziers to restock their land so that we can get these properties, particularly those in the gulf that have lost thousands of cattle, possibly up to half a million cattle, back on their feet. We've provided $5 million to CWA, the Country Women's Association, to provide assistance to those in drought, and we're also offering concessional loans. There are a lot of other things in the budget to help. We're doing all we can to get people back on their feet after these devastating floods and droughts.

The PRESIDENT: 
Senator Macdonald, a final supplementary question?

Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:54):
What we have is a positive vision for the future of farming in this country. What we want to see is us grow as a farming country from the $60-odd billion we produce today to $100 billion in years to come. We want to increase the number of people we feed from about 75 million people now—over double and nearly triple our own population—to over 100 million people around the world. The way you do that is you build dams. You have to store water. The way you do that is to allow people to develop land. Sometimes they have to clear trees to put in new crops—to grow food that is good for the world, not just for us. Over there on that side, they don't want any of that. They don't want to build dams, they certainly don't want to let farmers manage their own lands and they are insulting our farming communities in this country by adopting Greens-Left policies that are going to lock up the land and not let our country progress to growing more food and developing more local economies in our country.