Former Liberal premier Colin Barnett says he would love to be Agriculture Minister if he had his time again

Former Liberal premier Colin Barnett says he would love to be the WA Agriculture Minister and dedicate the “attention” he gave to the resources industry to farming, if he had his time again. Speaking at a business breakfast in Perth on Tuesday, April 29, Mr Barnett — who was WA Premier from 2008 to 2017 — said in retrospect he would have loved to hold the portfolio at some point during his time as an MP. He made the comment when asked what projects he would put on the table if he was the WA Premier today. “I had lots of portfolios over the years ... and the one portfolio I would love to have had would have been agriculture,” he said. “We tell the world we are the best at producing food ... and we are very good, but we are not the best. “I think we could do a lot more in agriculture, and a lot more in irrigated agriculture. “The attention I gave during my time to resources, I would apply that to agriculture.” When asked to expand on his comments after his presentation, Mr Barnett said he had always had a fondness for farming. “I have always been interested in country life and agriculture ... my father grew up on a farm, when I was a young boy I wanted to be a farmer,” he said. “We have a small property near Toodyay .... I always get teased by farmers in Toodyay for my lack of knowledge ... but often that is an advantage as a Minister, you ask the dumb question. “I gave a lot of my effort to iron ore, natural gas ... I would love to have had the opportunity to do something similar in the agriculture industry and especially in diversification.” Mr Barnett said he had a particular interest in irrigated agriculture and intensive agriculture, and building the relationship with buying companies in the same way he did with resources. “I was always around agriculture as Premier, but not at the centre of it,” he said. “If I wasn’t the Premier, I would have put my hand up for that portfolio.”