[Peter Walsh] Labor’s ideological demons destroy Department of Agriculture: Walsh
TL;DR
The Nationals Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, says the Allan Labor government has achieved its "ideological dream" and removed the word agriculture from public view.
Location
Swan Hill
The Nationals Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, says the Allan Labor government has achieved its "ideological dream" and removed the word agriculture from public view.
Mr Walsh says it started with the independent Department of Environment and Primary Industries being sucked into the mega Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
Now, he says, the Allan Labor government has achieved its ideological wish and deleted any reference to primary production, or indeed any reference to farmers at all, in its departmental structures.
"They have this ideological dislike of country Victoria, and everyone put here knows that, and is paying the price for that, but they also have this ideological dislike of farmers," Mr Walsh told Parliament last week.
"And they have spent a long time doing this - removing it from public view," he says.
"In my hometown of Echuca, the rumour mill is absolutely rife the department of agriculture office here is going to close.
"I know the ABC is hunting around on that and where there is smoke there is usually fire - particularly with this government.
"So, I point blank asked Ros Spence, the Minister who controls the unseen agriculture department, to give some assurances the Department of Agriculture office in Echuca will not close.
"I look forward to her response."
Mr Walsh says today Agriculture Victoria, or whatever it is going to be called in its next incarnation, is merely an office right down the back of a great big other department.