Mr BROADBENT (10:26 AM) —Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Taxation Laws Amendment (Farm Management Deposits) Bill 1998 . I note some of the comments of the member for Kalgoorlie (Mr Campbell). I would hope that this is not a nation divided against itself but a nation where city and country can work together. Under this government we will have the opportunity to perhaps extend the arms from the city to the country and from the country to the city and bring people together to benefit.

I put to you too that this government for the first time has really taken on the concerns of country people through the Agriculture—Advancing Australia policies. We have addressed ourselves to some of the issues that are really affecting country Australia today, particularly in my area of Gippsland, in the seat of McMillan and country Victorians generally.

It is not denied by anybody that we are faced with a drought at the moment that runs from central New South Wales right down through the Monaro into Gippsland and down into Tasmania. This has caused enormous hardship for communities, but the member for Kalgoorlie actually denies that there has been restructure going on in rural communities. Since the 1960s the change in transport, the change in information technology and the change in the way we communicate with one another has changed the whole face of the farming community.

I would agree with the member for Kalgoorlie and say this: the soul of the cities is in the country. We rely on country people for the national soul. They look to country people for the expression of everything that is Australian. I do feel that locally in the seat of McMillan, and I know the member for Kalgoorlie expresses that generally in his approach to his politics. I can accept that there are those that are passionate about how we go about holding together our country communities.

There is the thrust of the government's approach and the thrust of the approach of the Prime Minister (Mr Howard) in his response to the pork industry that the member raised. The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Tim Fischer) yesterday said that he agrees that there is no level playing field but there is a minefield out there that we are having some success in addressing ourselves to. There is the good work done by the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy (Mr Anderson) in bringing all these pieces together into one cohesive policy where the previous government failed to do that.

There are farmers right now in parts of my area who are in great distress because of this drought. We have gone through a shocking period for dairy farmers. We are automatically restructuring the beef industry throughout the whole of Gippsland because of the size of properties, because of the structure and make-up of our communities and the withdrawal of services caused by the reduction in population throughout our country areas.

We have to find ways to address ourselves to keeping rural communities together. Part of Agriculture—Advancing Australia is to put in a program to support rural communities, which we have done. With the granting of drought exceptional circumstances in Gippsland it has been proved for the first time ever that we are not drought proof, unlike the electorate of Murray, and that the great lush land of Gippsland can be affected by the lack of rain or by the excessive amount of rain and then the withdrawal of that rain.

Under the government's proposal for exceptional circumstances for farmers, we look at a number of issues including meteorological conditions, agronomic and livestock conditions, water supplies, the impact of production, environmental impacts, the impact on farm income, sale and significance of the events, and other forms of support being provided or which are available from Commonwealth or state government agencies. In combination with the state government, we were recently able to deliver a $3.7 million package to farmers in Gippsland. That package has been extended to East Gippsland and has also been extended further into the Monaro. This is the first time government has had to turn and react in these parts of Australia. My concerns are that we put proposals and programs in place—such as the bill before us, that will at least give some opportunity for farmers and producers across Australia to address the issues, particularly of good years and bad years. That is what the bill does in this instance.

The member for Kalgoorlie also addressed the issue of farmers in contract work. I will take up the proposal that he put forward, because a tremendous number of the farmers in Gippsland are also contractors. I would not like the nature of their work to prevent them accessing this program because, without that contracting out work which is often done for other farmers, it would make a mockery of the opportunity for this program to work effectively on behalf of farmers.

But we must not forget in that process that, in this global economy, we have a number of areas in which Australia has to address itself to the whole of the issue rather than to one individual grouping at any given time. We have to look at the beginning of our pork exports and the fact that we have begun to export citrus products. Our beef markets need to be protected. We as a government have put in labelling legislation which will also help the pork industry and there is, too, of course, the anti-dumping legislation that only this government has been able to provide. This is important legislation not only for the pork industry but also for the paper and pulp industry. It gives a clear indication for Australia as to what is a product of Australia and what is made in Australia. It is only this government, through the Minister for Customs and Consumer Affairs (Mr Truss), that has been able to deliver on behalf of Australian producers.

Today, with this farm management bill, we have taken the opportunity to deliver, once again, on a promise to rural Australia and particularly rural Victoria. It is one of the many lists of core promises that this government under the Prime Minister (Mr Howard) has delivered and will continue to deliver. But it is not just about legislation; it is not just about economics; it is about people. This Agriculture—Advancing Australia package, of all of the legislation that we have been addressing, is directly about people: people on the farms, people in regional areas, people that have a real concern about their future and about the generations to come.

Mr Deputy Speaker Forrest, you would know from your own area that there is a concern out there as to where rural people are going to be in 10, 15 and 50 years time. Are we going to have the family farms that are currently there? Will there be further rationalisation? Will there be the opportunity for their children to stay? Some of the information that we have read says that the numbers of people between the ages of 24 and 34 in country areas right across Australia are diminishing. We have an ageing community with some 14 per cent of the community made up of children.

The income in the rural areas is no longer the dream, where city people often used to see farming life as giving a large income and a great lifestyle. That is certainly not the case across Gippsland. We are constantly addressing ourselves to the issues that affect people on those farms, in those communities and in those small businesses. In another place today I will be addressing some of the issues that have impacted so badly on regional Australia.

I will remind this Main Committee chamber of one of those issues; that is, after the 1993 election campaign the taxes in this country were increased. The wholesale sales taxes were increased to the tune of $4 billion and the taxes that were going to be reduced to those people by another $4 billion. The previous government actually cost every person $444. That was done by stealth. It was unfair. There was no compensation for it. Who paid it? Teachers in rural communities, farmers, women trying to manage the household budget, low income families in country areas—all of those regional people. They are the ones that paid it. They suffered it.

Mr Melham interjecting—

Mr BROADBENT —No, I am talking about the inconsistency and the shameful performance of the former federal government in 1993. These are real people out there that had to pay a real unfair cost when they were previously promised that there would be no tax increases. So never ever talk to me about social justice. I remember a member sitting in this House giving his maiden speech on social justice. Every time he mentioned social justice, he had his bus load of people in the parliament—

Mr Melham —There were four bus loads.

Mr BROADBENT —at that time clapping him. I tell you what: it must have been shameful for that person at that time to actually sit there and claim social justice after increasing taxes by 10 and 20 per cent to the poorest parts of our community, which is often in rural Australia where they do not have the service, they do not have the transport, they do not have the opportunities and they do not have the educational opportunities. Those people were never, never compensated.

Mr Bruce Scott interjecting—

Mr BROADBENT —Anybody from the gallery who is able to shout across this table should be dealt with very effectively and quickly.

I have taken my time, but I just remind the committee that any time anybody from the previous government gets up and talks about social justice, we can just tell them that Agriculture—Advancing Australia is what social justice is about. The gold card for veterans is what social justice is about. Social justice is about what this government has delivered, which is the reduction of our debt, and fairness in our whole approach. What you will see from the government is one of the fairest packages that this government has ever put together.

Mr Melham interjecting—

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Forrest) —Order! The honourable member for Banks knows the procedures on making contributions to the chamber. I ask him to observe them.

Mr BROADBENT —I am very happy that the member for Banks is in here because on every occasion I raise social justice I would like to have the member for Banks in the room. I want to drive home to the member for Banks and his fellow members—one of whom has just arrived—the message that, if they want to talk about social justice, I am going to drive it home to them on a daily basis, day after day after day, because what they did not deliver after 13 years of government was social justice for rural Australians. I look forward to taking up the cudgels again on another occasion.