Mr BROADBENT (5:44 PM) —That was not a bad address from the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2010-2011 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2010-2011. However, his last statement was uncalled-for and unnecessary and inappropriate. Having said that, I would like to talk about some good news and some bad news.

The good news concerns the Long Jetty at Port Welshpool. For the last two federal election campaigns we have made a promise down in south Gippsland to rebuild the jetty. Because we have failed to gain the confidence of the Australian people, we have been unable to fulfil that election promise. I have also been unable to convince Martin Ferguson to invest in the Long Jetty. Perhaps, if we had not had a change of Prime Minister and there needed to be an announcement down in south Gippsland, it would have been an ideal tourism announcement and it would have been a great fillip for this community that suffers in a number of ways. We are not the rich community we once were in the fifties and sixties when dairying was at its peak. It would also have been great for the current government to commit to the heritage of this nation by rebuilding the jetty. Part of it was burnt out 12 months ago, so it became more imperative that something be done.

Along comes the miraculous restoration of the Liberal-National Party in Victoria. Last week the Deputy Premier, Peter Ryan, made a great announcement. He said that they would not only do a feasibility study for the reconstruction of the Long Jetty but also commit $3 million to those parts that are broken and open up the jetty for use.

Why is an old jetty important to me? It is one of the longest jetties in Australia, going into deep water and servicing a magnificent deepwater harbour. It is important to me because I always had a dream that people with disabilities should as much as possible be able to share in the life that those of us with full abilities have. This is a fantastic spot for wheelchair fishing and for disability access. It is great for recreation of this nature, and it takes us out into water we could not otherwise get to. Disability has always been a passion for me, and it is still a passion for me today.

Rebuilding the Long Jetty will create building jobs, and that is great, and we have changed the attitude of the organisations that look after the jetty—Ports and Harbours, DSC and those people—from the Labor government’s view, who just wanted to close it down and get rid of it. It happens to be down in Peter Ryan’s area, which helps a lot. The Jesuits did a survey of that area around Port Welshpool and they found, as I mentioned before, that rather than it being a wealthy area it turned out that this area was quite poor and anything we could do to enhance the economy in that small township of Port Welshpool, and Welshpool, would be a fillip to the rest of the community.

Why would it be a fillip? I know the two members here at the moment are not from rural Victoria but, just the same, they would understand the decline of small towns. When you have your economic indicators decreasing rather than increasing, things happen. You start to lose your stores but, worse, you lose your kinder, all of a sudden the school is under threat, perhaps you are not buying as much fuel as you were so the fuel outlet is under threat, and there is a steady spiralling down. The investment that Peter Ryan and the Liberal-National coalition have made here is going to enhance the area’s economy. It is going to grow their tourism industry, it is going to create jobs, it is going to help with disability services, it is going to break the nexus of decline in the area, and it is going to give a fillip to the whole of the community, which is now enthused about getting on with it.

In Busselton in Western Australia there is an underground viewing area off the Busselton Jetty. It attracts 600,000 people a year to the Busselton Jetty to go underwater and look. We have got amazing fish and sea lions—very special species—in the area of this inlet. So the commitment to the jetty means that we will have a great opportunity to perhaps commit further funds or even for private enterprise to come in and build an underwater viewing platform.

I have other dreams too. This is where the ferry to Tasmania used to leave from to go to Launceston and there are some lovely facilities there that could be enhanced with either a small train from there around to the pier and access out onto the pier or a small unit of some sort that will actually take people from one spot in Port Welshpool to another. The pub would get more business. The other areas of activity such fishing tackle, bait, and recreational fishing would all grow. All of a sudden you would have one very strong, very viable community that was previously in decline. You would have people wanting to come into that area to start new businesses and new operations. Instead of the spiral going down we would have a spiral going up. That is the good news and I thank Peter Ryan and his Nationals for the commitment that we could not deliver. I apologise for that. We had to win an election to deliver it. Perhaps one day we will get a chance to enhance what is already there—sooner rather than later I hope.

The Prime Minister went to New Zealand only a few weeks ago, and I should say that we have just witnessed a horrific earthquake in Christchurch and I would like to identify myself with the remarks of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and others. We do see our relationship with New Zealand as a family one. There is not a person in Australia who does not have a friend somewhere who is either from New Zealand or associated with it. I have not been there myself, but everybody who goes there tells me it is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I just want to identify with the pain and suffering they are going through at the moment. Having regard to that, the Prime Minister went there only a week ago, went into the parliament and announced that, regardless of the process, she will accept the umpires’ decision on New Zealand apples coming into Australia.

I would just like to quote a former member of parliament. He is talking about apple growers and pear growers. He said:

That was Christian Zahra, the former member for McMillan, talking about apples.

I am concerned about those apples coming into this country. They say to me, ‘Look, Russell, your apple growers will survive.’ Yes, I believe they will. Although there are things we can put in place, once fire blight is here we cannot get rid of it, and it will absolutely devastate our pear industry. If it gets a run here, it will devastate our pear industry. Where do many of our pears go? They go to New Zealand. I know we live in an international world and an international market and I know we are trying to get stone fruit into New Zealand, but this is an issue for this nation. There is a process that we were going through and the Prime Minister baldly said we will accept the umpires decision and bring these apples in, giving a green light to those apples coming into this country from a country we know has fire blight when we do not have fire blight.

I may have lost this argument and now the apples will be coming in, but I am putting it on the record: I hope we do not rue the day when the Prime Minister of Australia went to New Zealand and made that commitment to have their apples in this country and I hope it does not destroy forever our clean, green pear industry—gone. That is the great threat. There has been an argument for a long time—from Christian Zahra in my electorate, back to Barry Cunningham, John Riggall and Barry Simon—about this very issue. Every member has stood up on behalf of his apple growers and pear growers. It is the right thing for us to do. We have to address the concerns of our community. I believe this fellow, Christian Zahra, rightly, addressed that. But he was attacking the Howard government at the time. At least Mr Howard followed process on this. I know it is a battle in the international field when it comes to one agricultural product against another. In admitting that I have lost the battle, I want to put on record my great disappointment that the Prime Minister would go over and make a statement like that when there is still a process in place which she would have been advised of.

These are appropriation bills. In these bills the government has a need to outline to the community why it is raising more money and where it is spending it. There is one thing I will not do: I will not pick something out of here, particularly, say, on immigration or on overseas aid in two spots here, and start telling this government or any other government how it should be spending it or setting one person against another in this nation over issues such as overseas aid or immigration. I will not do it. I will not say, ‘There is an extra $300 million going into our aid or immigration program or the need for the department to spend more money.’ If you want me to come into this place and say, ‘We should not be spending it on people coming in; we should be spending it on this school or that hospital,’ or ‘You should be getting more of a pay cut,’ and ‘Why are we sending money overseas?’ I will not divide my community on issues like this. I will not do it.

It is really important for this nation. I just talked about our international argy-bargy with other people with regard to agriculture. We have international responsibilities, too, as a wealthy nation. I have spoken to Mal Washer about the Islamic schools in Indonesia, which he has visited. They are beside themselves with our support. He has visited those schools. He knows how important those schools are to the regions and the kids that they are serving—and they love Australia. We just heard from the Mongolian Prime Minister today how important the liaison is between his country and our country through education scholarships. The Prime Minister, you heard today, announced those.

I will not be a divisive person on these issues. It is important that we do go out and explain to people why we spend the money that we spend. But to divide one in our community against another or set one group against another for political benefit is not my style. I will not do it, and where I see it I will stand against it and every time it raises its ugly head in this place I will stand against it again. If it eventually costs me my seat, my political activity or my career or the attacks start to come, I tell you now that you have an option: if you do not like what I do and you do not like what I say, in the election that comes up within three years you can vote against me and you can vote me out. I will say that on any issue that arises in this place. You have a choice: you can vote me out of this place. (Time expired)