Farming innovation
Mr McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (10:49): There is no doubt farming can be particularly challenging, and this has been the case for many, many years with the weather patterns that farmers face, but in an increasingly changing climate farmers have more and more vocalised that they want the support of governments. I am very proud that the Victorian government has led the nation in many ways for farming. I was very pleased to join Minister Tierney recently at the Ellinbank SmartFarm. There was a significant group of farming peak bodies that attended, and I think one of the comments that Minister Tierney made was that it is our farming peak bodies that have led, through their farmers, the call for action on climate change, because farmers want to be prepared to deal with this changing weather and want their farms to be passed on to future generations. The work of Ellinbank farm is fantastic from a mitigation point of view—reducing the emissions that particularly our milking cows make—but also on adaptation, ensuring that as we get more intense weather the cows are having the best outputs, ensuring profitability, enabling farmers to pass their farms onto their children and ensuring that we have sustainability across generations of farmers.