Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kennedy for his contribution, although I do wish to point out that we have a matter of public importance following immediately which deals with exactly the same subject. Technically speaking, a suspension of standing orders would be completely redundant in these circumstances. Obviously, the member for Kennedy has a passionate concern for the cattlemen in his region, as we all do. This is a very difficult and complicated issue and it is understandable that emotions are running high in response to the footage that we all saw on the Four Corners report, the footage that has given rise to a great deal of concern in the community. There are many sides to this argument as well, as we understand the impact that this issue has on our farmers and graziers not only in the Northern Territory but also in the member for Kennedy's backyard. I understand the passion with which he is trying to defend his industry. It is very important that we support our farmers, but it is also essential that we come up with a solution that gives certainty about how Australian animals are being treated all through the chain of supply and all through this process.

We know that these circumstances have caused great damage to the industry, but it has gone beyond just the exporters of live animals to Indonesia; it has also had ramifications and repercussions for the rest of the meat industry in this country. We have noticed that there has been a falling-off in purchases from butchers. This footage has certainly played havoc with the entire meat market. We do not have the luxury to mess around and come up with the wrong answer to this situation. We must very carefully plot a course through this situation and come up with parameters that will make sure that we do not see a repetition of this situation. If we were to rush to a solution now and create a short-term fix that then rebounded on us later with a fault in the system, where would that leave our industry, our market and our cattlemen? We cannot afford a repetition of this incident. We must ensure that we put in place a system that has certainty for the future of the industry and consumers. Of course, we had the contribution from the member for Wide Bay this morning who thinks we can come up with a short-term fix to this problem. He thinks that we can implement an identification system in a day. I note that when he had responsibility for this issue, it took him 21 months to implement that for this country. I also note that, following the member for Wide Bay's comments on radio this morning, Mr Rob Gillam, President of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of Western Australia, made nonsense of that claim that it could be done in a day. In his view, it would take many weeks just to put the identification system in place.

We have to recognise that we are dealing with another country—Indonesia—which needs capacity built to be able to deal with this situation and which needs technical solutions put in place to complement an identification system. And, of course, we have to work through that as a matter of diplomacy as well. That is something I know that the opposition do not seem to know much about when it comes to the relationship with Indonesia. We have rebuilt our relationship with Indonesia since this government came into office, and it is a relationship that certainly needed a lot of repair. I remember very well when I was an officer in the army and the Minister for Defence at the time, Mr Moore, claimed he was going to send troops across the border into West Timor, regardless of what Indonesian opinion was then. I remember the outrage that that caused in Indonesia. Over the years, we have seen some incredible damage done to our relationship with Indonesia through the opposition's ignorance and poor performance in diplomacy. So that aspect needs to be handled with care.

We have seen constructive engagement from the Indonesian authorities on this issue. They are as concerned as we are that their practices and processes are in accordance with their own welfare laws in this respect. Our engagement has been across the relevant portfolios. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Trade and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry have engaged with their counterparts and they have an understanding that something does need to be done. As I say, they will require technical assistance to put those procedures in place.

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