It does, of course, in Newcastle contain one of the oldest and the best known of the industrial centres of Australia. It does, of course, in the wine growing area manifest one of the great burgeoning export industries of this country and it does, of course, contain many very attractive rural parts of Australia. And this morning at Tocal I had the opportunity of sampling the delights of that beautiful college which is the most respected agricultural college in Australia. And the New South Wales Department of Agriculture is doing a splendid job in administering that college for the Alexandra Trust and about 400 or 500 young Australians a year pass through that college. And what it does is to bring together all that is good about Australia's agricultural past, but at the same time impart to those who pass through the college modern, contemporary understanding of the demands of farming and agricultural life.
Agriculture is still a very important part of the fabric of the Australian nation.
It is not only the rural way of life that's important but the export income that we earn from farmers is tremendously important. Without that export income, the people who live in the cities of Australia would be a lot worse off. Without that export income, which is often not as great as the effort of the farmers who generate the income deserved, without that income Australia would be a much poorer nation. And I want to take the opportunity as I have on other occasions when I've visited non-metropolitan areas of Australia, to say that one of the greatest and continuing goals of my Government is to ensure that our rural producers receive a fairer go on international markets. Now that means, not only tough negotiating in the world trade fora, like people like Tim Fischer and John Anderson, but it also means that we have a taxation system that encourages exporters.