Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the member for Leichhardt on his motion on live cattle exports. The motion shows the profound financial impact on graziers and associated businesses by the government's decision to ban live cattle exports to Indonesia on 7 June 2011. The $1 billion live cattle export industry is very important to the national economy as well as to family businesses and entire communities across regional Northern Australia.

Indonesia takes 60 per cent of Australian live cattle, which is worth over $320 million to the economy. Indonesia also imported five per cent of our boxed meat. In all, some 13,000 direct jobs depend on this sector. Had the minister stuck to his original plan to ban the 11 abattoirs mentioned in the Four Corners report it would not have been such a problem. But you cannot stop an industry for one month, because it soon extends to six months: you just cannot stop an industry like turning a tap on and turning a tap off. I am very suspicious of the Four Corners report: if it was such a big problem, why did they not bring it to the authority's attention immediately instead of getting all their ducks lined up and then delivering a whammy? I think that it is very wrong of Four Corners and any other associated people who helped put that program together.

Eighty-two Indigenous cattle properties alone are directly affected, supporting some 700 Indigenous jobs and, indirectly, a further 17,000 jobs across Northern Australia. It has impacted very much on these people. It has also impacted on our southern beef producers; the absence of meat works in the north because of seasonal conditions, workforce and other types of industry pressure means that there is a cartage fee of $200 to bring one head down from the north to the south, to our southern meat works. This also puts pressure on the southern beef prices.

The blanket Indonesian ban required $100 million of taxpayers' money to assist with the package to compensate the cattle producers for the government's ineptitude. It is a massive increase from the original $5 million the government offered in the first place—$5 million was just treated as a laugh. It just goes to show how out of step the government was with the industry. In the 2008 budget, the government pulled $16 million worth of research and development funding out of Australian agriculture but gave $484 million to overseas countries for their research.

Indonesia, a country of nearly 250 million, has cut quotas for our live cattle since the export ban. They took it hard and were offended by our actions. Indonesia has also cut their imports of Australian boxed meat significantly since the ban. Some of these remote areas of Indonesia do not have the luxury of electricity or cold rooms and rely on daily fresh supplies of red meat. This we denied them for a month—or longer—until we got the industry back on its feet. There was a trickle-down impact on Australian industries such as real estate, transport, trucking and shipping. Indigenous employment, stock agencies, feed producers, rural contractors, local town suppliers and government departments all suffered during this period of time.

The motion also seeks to acknowledge that, due to the government's maladministration, the business assistance program offered very little to graziers. The Centrelink staff were ill-advised. They did not understand what the system's rules were. There was a lack of training—it was rushed through. Some applicants missed the deadline because they were misinformed about their eligibility and how to fill out the paperwork—once again, red tape.

This motion condemns the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for refusing to extend the business assistance program to farmers who suffered financial losses as a direct result of the export ban and for his poor handling of the issue leading to financial losses in the cattle industry.

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