John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on this incredibly important matter of public importance. The live export ban highlights the government's incomp­etence and the need for an early election. I believe this is without doubt the worst decision they have ever made—and that is a big statement given some of the decisions made by this government. This decision will have dire consequences for our nearest, biggest and most important neighbour, and the government did not discuss it with them let alone consider the effect it will have on this country. It is the worst decision I have ever seen by a government. The ineptitude of this government never ceases to amaze me, but when it comes to agriculture add an element of 'I could not care less' and you will begin to understand why the live export issue has escalated to such a crisis.

The Prime Minister said just yesterday that the government was torn between two competing extremes—vegetarians and those with little concern for animal cruelty—but would not resume the trade until cruelty problems were fixed. This is just the sort of ridiculous thing you come to expect from this Prime Minister. I have not heard anyone say it is okay to mistreat animals in the way it was portrayed on television. The competing interests here are those seeking to shut down live exports—in fact, shut down livestock production and have us all eating lentils—and those seeking a rational solution and a balanced policy response to ensure animal welfare is front and centre in livestock production and livestock trade. Of course this government could be depended upon to choose the irrational approach, an agenda driven by lefties who have never had to face life's realities. When the Prime Minister announced that this year was to be 'the year of delivery and decision', everyone thought she had just made a mistake and meant to say 'decision and delivery', but we now understand that she got it right. This Prime Minister tries to deliver before ever making a decision. She tried to deliver the mining tax before making a decision on how it might work. She tried to deliver the carbon tax before doing the same. On live exports she has tried to deliver an outcome without making any decisions on how to manage government diplomacy with Indonesia, without making any decision on how it would impact on the cattle industry in Northern Australia or any decisions about contingencies.

There is a cartoon in the Australian today where somebody you could be mistaken for thinking is our Prime Minister is talking to somebody you could be mistaken for thinking is our foreign minister. That person says:

You're the one to fix the cattle trade because you know what it feels like to have your throat cut while fully conscious.

Northern Australia is getting its throat cut while fully conscious. This is an example of Gillard decision making. Northern Australia has so much to lose here. Northern Australia has only one serious industry outside the mining industry and it is the live export trade, a job they do very well. They grow very good cattle, which are in very high demand. The coalition supported Minister Ludwig's original decision to ban the trade from the abattoirs which were exposed for animal cruelty and to review abattoirs in Indonesia.

How badly this government has acted is underlined by the fact that a very short time after the Four Corners program the Indonesian President was reported as saying, 'This is a serious issue we have to deal with.' If I were the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, I would have grabbed the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister, raced over to Indonesia and said: 'Thank you for that offer. We must sit down together and deal with this issue.' But what happened? Not that. No, a few days later, the Indonesians, along with the rest of us, read in the papers that they had been spurned, treated not like the most important neighbour Australia has but like someone who does not matter. While the member for Griffith understands this, the Prime Minister is too scared to ask the foreign minister for help. I think she is frightened that he will be successful in dealing with the Indonesians. In any case, I think she is just too frightened simply to talk to him.

The only sensible solution is to allow our cattle to go only to those abattoirs with acceptable standards. And let me tell you, having just been over there talking to both the Indonesian and the Australian operators, it is amazing to me how well they have got together to work out for themselves how to deal with this situation. We have a world recognised cattle tracking system which could easily be extended to manage traceability. Indonesian and Australian operators are aware of it and some of them are already using it. Some of them are already independently audited in total trace-back systems, as well as humane cattle treatment. Every beast which goes on a boat can be tagged and scanned and then be tagged again at the destination to ensure traceability through the whole process. With the hand-held scanners, this can be done in locations which are not near major cities.

The best message, the only message, this government should or could send to processors in Indonesia is that we will only do business with those who meet our expectations on animal care and treatment and we will continue to send cattle exclusively to complying abattoirs. That would have been entirely justifiable and would have encouraged attitudinal and behavioural change—but no, not this government. Scared of the people on the left of their party, they reacted not on the basis of good policy but on the basis of keeping the people on the left of their party quiet.

If the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry did not inform Minister Ludwig of the consequences to Australia of this ban, heads should role. If Ludwig did not inform the Prime Minister of the consequences of a ban to Australia, he should be sacked. If Julia Gillard ignored that advice, she must go.

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