Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have heard a fair few debates during my 20 years in parliament, but this one on the motion by the member for Leichhardt about the ban on live cattle exports is pretty ordinary. The other side have not presented one systematic explanation—with a (1), (2) and (3) and then an (a), (b) and (c)—of what they would have done in these circumstances. We just had the last member blame the messenger—the ABC got a burn. So the basis of democracy in this country, an open press, is in question because something was highlighted the member did not like. They just blame the messenger.

What nonsense we have heard in this debate. I remember what the other side did when they were in government. Remember how, under the Howard government and its minister, there were sheep at sea for 70 days? They were denied entry at the intended destination and sent back to sea—and they were left at sea for 70 days. The incompetence of that regime in leaving those sheep at sea speaks for itself.

They come in here and talk about people missing out. Maybe it was up to those members from the Northern Territory who represent those people to do something about it. Nobody stood up. Why did you not stand up? Where were the members representing these people? They failed the test and then they come in here with a motion criticising Centrelink and criticising the minister—criticising anybody but themselves. They should look at themselves; they are the ones who failed to give representation.

Of course one feels for people who lose income from their businesses. So maybe one should look at those who were making the decisions at the time and at what decisions they were making. Were they looking at the future of the meat industry—based on the future of Indonesia, the growth in their supermarket trade, the growth in packaged meats and the changes in the way the Indonesians are organising their supply and trying to keep things chilled? I can remember my grandparents' house in a country town in Tasmania—they did not have a fridge either. They used to buy from the butcher's shop down the road every two or three days. On the farm I grew up on, there was no fridge either. The animals were cut up under a tree and put in the meat safe. So you do not have to be limited to these simplistic solutions being put by the opposition, these arguments that you cannot do anything else. The opposition do not look to the future. In Indonesia there are 200 million people. It is one of our closest neighbours, a great country that we have great relationships with. We should be looking at the future and how we trade with them in chilled and frozen projects. So I think that Meat and Livestock Australia should have been looking at the future a little bit more than it was. We all know that in this place, but some people will not face it and they will not give other reasons or what they would have done either. They just come in here with this very poor motion.

We need to be looking for the future. We need to be making sure that animals are not treated badly. I had many farmers in my office after this event saying that something had to be done. They are people that really look after their stock, and some of them have gone out on new regimes in animal husbandry to do that. They were very concerned that they were going to cop the bad press on this. So we need to make sure that we look after our stock the right way so that we have a future industry.

I remember the Howard government introducing the National Livestock Identification System, with the tags. It is very important to have a system so that you can react if there is a disease in stock anywhere in the country. But what did the Howard government do? They exempted the export trade in Northern Australia. They said, 'You don't have to have the tags.' I suppose that was pretty good for some people's taxation records as well, wasn't it? So you have all that nonsense, and then you have to pick up on that so you can have supply chain recognition and a proper auditing process, which this government has put in place.

I think we have done extremely well with this. I feel sorry for those that have lost income and had some hardship from it, but simplistic motions like this will do nothing. I believe the industry should consider diversification, looking for local processing and the export of higher value chilled beef into South-East Asia. If we go down that track, I believe we can really find some solutions. (Time expired)

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