The federal member for New England and federal Agriculture Minister said that as well as signing free trade agreements (FTAs) with three major agricultural trading partners – China, Japan and South Korea – he had also helped secure, in the New England, $700,000 for Calrossy Anglican School and seen projects start such as upgrades to Armidale Airport, Bindaree Beef and the Tenterfield bypass.

“These are all part and parcel of making sure we work extremely hard for the people of New England – and we’ve done this at a time when money’s extremely hard to come by,” Mr Joyce told reporters.

But Tamworth Country Labor branch president Joe Hillard said while the FTAs were “favourable developments”, he failed to see why Mr Joyce was claiming a hand in many of the cited achievements in the New England because “most of those matters are substantially state government”.

“It’s opportunistic of him to take credit for these matters, which were in the pipeline when he became member for New England and also when ... progresses refer to state government responsibility,” Mr Hillard said.

Mr Joyce is particularly proud of the reallocation of the $420 million Farm Finance Concessional Loans Scheme to better respond to farm businesses in need; introducing a comprehensive $320 million drought support package and a $100 million Drought Recovery Loans Concessional Scheme; and the increase in live cattle exports (74 per cent higher) and increase in live sheep exports (36 per cent higher).

Mr Joyce said the drought support was crucial in this one-in-100-year drought to “get some dignity back into (farmers’) lives”.

He said the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper, to be released in February, was one of his priorities, as was continuing the push to negotiate new and improved market access for our agricultural products overseas.

“The Coalition government put forward a concrete plan to reinvigorate the agriculture sector before last year’s election and we are delivering on that plan, with comprehensive drought support, increased market access, cuts to red tape and stronger biosecurity measures just some of the Coalition’s first full-year policy achievements,” he said.

“Our drought package provides income assistance to those in financial hardship, with no cap on total program funding (meaning it won’t stop on July 1, 2015). More than 4400 people across Australia are now receiving Farm Household Allowance, thanks to our commonsense changes to eligibility requirements, including a more generous $2.55 million net farm asset threshold to ensure farmers in genuine hardship can access support.” 

He said finalising the free trade agreement with China had “brought some real impetus into our soft commodities (like beef).”

He said he had also improved market access and opened six new livestock export markets – Egypt, Bahrain, Iran, Cambodia, Thailand and Lebanon.

He also mentioned that “further plans” would come forward on wild dog control within Australia.