WA Libs 'will cross floor on wheat bill'

7 Oct 2012, 3:59 pm   -   Source: AAP

Former MP Wilson Tuckey says West Australian Liberals will put their state and constituents first when it comes to a vote on wheat deregulation.

Former federal MP Wilson Tuckey says a number of West Australian Liberals will cross the floor and support Labor or abstain from voting on government legislation to fully deregulate wheat exports.

Debate on the Wheat Export Marketing Amendment Bill is scheduled to resume in the lower house on Tuesday.

The opposition is trying to delay winding-up Wheat Exports Australia, but WA Nationals MP Tony Crook has already announced he'll vote with the government. NSW Liberal Alby Schultz plans to abstain.

And they are not the only two likely to break ranks, according to Mr Tuckey, who represented the West Australian seat of O'Connor for three decades.

"I think some Western Australians will put Western Australia and their constituents first," he told Network Ten on Sunday.

"They will cross the floor or abstain."

Mr Tuckey said while he wouldn't speak on behalf of other people, he'd had discussions with a number of WA Liberals.

He said they felt "ambushed" by Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop - a leading WA Liberal - and "they are not happy about that".

The opposition as a whole wants the existing arrangements to stay in place until after the next election, with Tony Abbott arguing the government doesn't have the track record to pull off a sound and speedy transition.

Mr Abbott last week played down the possibility of a split within the coalition.

"You should not leap to conclusions about what anyone is going to do," he said.

But the Wheat Export Marketing Amendment Bill is widely supported by WA grain growers.

Mr Tuckey on Sunday said the current accreditation scheme was an anachronism that was costing Australian farmers about $6 million a year in levies and compliance costs.

"And Western Australian farmers are paying over $3 million of that," he said.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube