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

The member for Kennedy has rightly pointed out that an inquiry needs to happen. He also points out that nothing has happened in nine years. Of course, this government has only been in office since 2007. The member for Kennedy also pointed out that this issue goes back many, many years to the previous government, the Howard government, when this trade was also conducted. Twelve years was plenty of time for the government to go and have a look for themselves at what was going on in Indonesia. What did they do during that time? They did diddly-squat, not a thing.

In contrast to that, this government have been actively engaged in pursuing this issue. Well before it emerged on Four Corners, the minister was engaged in correspondence with the industry. On 30 May the government's veterinary services were engaged to examine the standards that were being applied in the treatment of our livestock. We are actively engaged in trying to deal with this situation. Of course, now, Mr Farmer has been appointed to conduct an inquiry on behalf of the government. Mr Farmer has had a lot of experience in dealing with Indonesia as a former ambassador. We can rely on him to the deal with this situation. He has a relationship with Indonesia. Mr Farmer will conduct an inquiry not only into this issue but into the breadth and depth of our entire live export industry, which is what is required right now. We need certainty across the board so that we can preserve the live export industry for this nation. It is so important for us. It is important for our revenue and important for our domestic agriculture industry.

There are those who want to shut this industry down and there are those who would like a permanent blanket prohibition. Those cries will continue to be made whenever there is evidence that this industry is not being conducted on a sound footing. Where images appear that allow people to make that kind of argument, this industry will suffer damage. It is important that we get this right across the live export industry and that is what Mr Farmer will do. We have not introduced a suspension into this industry mandatorily on a six-month basis; we have said we will get this industry back up and running and back exporting as soon as it is possible to do so, as soon as we have certainty.

It is not a case of just getting animals and going back into the abattoirs in Indonesia that we know meet the right standards; it is about making sure that our livestock are going to those abattoirs. You cannot just hope that they will go to those abattoirs; you need to have a tracking system that ensures that. That will deliver certainty for our growers who have inundated us with calls concerned about how their animals are being treated. They do not want this industry started up again unless they can be satisfied that their animals will be treated in a proper manner. Their concern has been directed at the way in which the Meat and Livestock Association have dealt with this issue, and the funds that have gone their way which, of course, have also received matching funding from the Commonwealth. MLA have dropped the ball. There is no question about that. And that is why the minister is demanding the MLA support farmers in this time of need. They will be required to do that. This government will make sure that they do that because we have the future of our farmers at heart. We are determined to look after them and preserve this industry. But we must have a technical system that will allow us to completely track our animals through the system so that we can be certain that they are going to the abattoirs that can deal with these animals correctly. If we do it otherwise then this industry will collapse.

We cannot afford a second instance of this kind. That is the negligence that is being demonstrated by the members on the other side, particularly the member for Wide Bay, who ought to know better. He claims he knows the primary industry and says he can get this industry going in a day. What an absurd proposition. No member of this industry would back up that claim. No-one who knows what they are talking about could in their right mind assert that you could get this going in a day. No-one who has had any contact with the cattle industry could assert that that was the case. He has been exposed as an impostor.

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