Mrs MARINO (Forrest—Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories) (15:43): I'm very pleased to talk on this particular MPI. I'm looking around to see if there are any other dairy farmers in this parliament. I don't think there are. I'd be very interested to see the— Ms Claydon interjecting— Mrs MARINO: Sorry? Mr Dick: It wasn't me! Mrs MARINO: That probably explains the contempt with which we're held as dairy farmers, and particularly as farmers. Where is there a farmer on that side that's going to speak today on this MPI? Where is the farmer? Dr Mike Kelly: All my family are dairy farmers. They've been doing it for 100 years. Mrs MARINO: Where is the farmer? When we're talking about— Mr Rob Mitchell interjecting— Mrs MARINO: Where is the farmer? You talk a lot about agriculture but where is the farmer? Here we are, listening to an MPI, and I've been very interested to hear the comments about live export. The opposition have said they were going to completely shut the live sheep trade. In Western Australia, the damage that that would have done would have been to the multimillions of dollars that that industry is worth to Western Australia. What's worse is that what's not well understood on the other side is the effect it has on small, regional communities. This would be exacerbated right across Western Australia in the areas where the sheep are produced. Someone like the livestock transporter frequently was the only person in a small community who was driving that local economy. The fuel supplier, the local store, the employment and the mechanic are all part of that supply chain and value chain. That was at risk. The farmers were at risk from their climate change policies—that open-ended, not costed climate change policy. I'm proud to be a farmer. I'll stand up in this place and anywhere else and defend our farmers and be proud of them. I'm also proud to be a dairy farmer. That's in spite of perhaps what's said, at times, about dairy farmers. Mr Fitzgibbon: David Littleproud killed the industry anyway. Mrs MARINO: Yes, member for Hunter—who's still here—it was a really poor approach that Labor took in the run to the election around the dairy industry. It was simply opportunistic. For those of us who understand the industry, we saw it for exactly what it was—and opportunism is its name. It certainly didn't help the industry one little bit. I'm pleased that our farm production is up 25 per cent since 2017. That's up since we've been in government. I'm equally pleased to see the amount of fabulous produce that our farmers send around the world. During the global financial crisis, it was our agricultural sector that underpinned our terms of trade and that did the job for Australia. Yes, we are frequently those who do our job quietly. We just get on with it in rural and regional Australia. We actually have a range of policies that actually support rural and regional Australians. I would talk about our free trade agreements as well. They have been very, very beneficial to our rural and regional exporters, particularly our farming sector. We've seen our Regional Investment Corporation out there. It's also open for business as well. I'm particularly proud this week about the future drought fund. For those of us who live and work in rural and regional Australia— Mr Gosling interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Hogan ): The member for Solomon will remove himself under 94(a). He is in the wrong seat and singing out. The member for Solomon then left the chamber. Mrs MARINO: For those members of this place who actually understand what it means to be a farmer, they understand what it is to not be able to feed or provide water for your animals. We place so much value and put so much of our time, effort and passion into the breeding programs that we have. They know how much effort we put into our animals. To me, the drought fund was one of the very good decisions that we've made as a government. I was disappointed to see the politics played yesterday over this particular drought fund. To me, it was an absolute no-brainer. I'm really pleased, as well, with our vegan laws for those who seek to publish material over a carriage service with the intention to incite trespass on agricultural land. Our Australian farmers have a right to feel safe in their businesses and in their homes.