New wheat laws passed as farmers revolt

(AAP) - Despite angry farmer protests and a raft of Senate amendments, Australia's 60-year-old monopoly system of selling bulk wheat overseas has ended.

The lower house on Monday accepted the opposition-controlled Senate amendments,
bringing in to law the new wheat marketing arrangements.
Protesting farmers booed and shouted "No" as the law was passed. They also held an
angry news conference in parliament house and later disrupted question time.

Agriculture Minister Tony Burke moved swiftly after the legislation was passed
announcing six members of Wheat Exports Australia, the new body to decide who is
allowed to export wheat.

A number of bodies are expected to apply for accreditation, including AWB, which had
long held a monopoly until disgraced by the Iraq kickback scandal.
When the legislation initially passed the house, the Liberals and Nationals split,
with the former voting with the government.

But in the Senate the coalition partners combined to heavily amend the bill, in some
cases in minor ways like the wording of the objectives and the start date for a
review of the new scheme.

When the amendments returned to the house, Mr Burke announced that the government
would agree to them all - including one that would allow any individual grower to
sell overseas.

Mr Burke said that although this meant total deregulation, the Nationals - who
opposed any deregulation - bizarrely voted for it.
He said the government could accept it because the coalition had "made a mess" of
its own amendment.

While it had amended the main bill covering the wheat marketing scheme, it had
failed to also amend customs law that prohibited such individual sales.

As the amended bill was passed on the voices, between 40 and 50 farmers in the
public gallery shouted "No".
The farmers, who fear that having competing sellers will mean the price will be set
by the weakest, then held a news conference to rail against the changes.

NSW grower Jock Munro said the new system would see the volume of wheat grown each
year halved to 10 million tonnes within three years.
"This is the most lethal, disgusting piece of legislation you'll ever see," he said.

"It's the blackest day for Australian agriculture."
The farmers were back in the chamber for question time, though silent until Finance
Minister Lindsay Tanner jeered at the Nationals as "a bedraggled, dishevelled,
disgruntled little crew".

They yelled again as Trade Minister Simon Crean spoke about world trade
negotiations, then turned on Liberal Chris Pyne when he asked a Belinda Neal question.

"What about the single desk?" one roared.
Speaker Harry Jenkins threatened to evict them, but also told MPs not to encourage them.

At the end of the session, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was booed as he walked out and
there were calls of: "We want Burke."

Mr Burke said the new scheme was a major economic reform that would at last give
farmers the right to choose who exports their wheat.
He announced Wheat Exports Australia will be chaired by Ted Woodley, a former head
of large grain and energy companies, including the NSW Grain Corporation.