Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week, Rockhampton and Capricornia hosted our nation's biggest cattle industry expo: Beef Australia 2015. I rise today to report this event as the most successful ever held in showcasing our beef industry and technology to the world. Beef Australia's chairman Blair Angus of Kimberley Station near Clermont and his committee together with CEO Denis Cox, the Beef Australia staff and all the volunteers who acted as Beef Week ambassadors have made Australia very proud on the world stage. Up to 90,000 people attended Beef Australia, including visitors from 25 countries. I am proud that our coalition government contributed $2.5 million to help stage this event. This was an investment well spent.

As we know, Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast was recently ravaged by Cyclone Marcia. Beef Week provided a much needed boost, directly injecting up to $40 million into the local retail, food, hospitality, transport and accommodation sectors. However, the final spin-off to our nation will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of post Beef Week business deals here and overseas. This year, there was particular interest from delegates from China, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ghana. Our beef sector employs 200,000 people. Its importance is reflected by the number of senior federal government visitors who attended Beef Australia 2015. I thank the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister the federal agriculture minister and the Deputy Speaker, amongst others, for their attendance.

The Liberal National Party is the biggest supporter of this industry, which is Rockhampton's most important sector. Such a line-up of senior ministers clearly demonstrates the importance our party and the federal government places on the beef industry in Capricornia. At the event, the Prime Minister announced $100 million in seeding money for fixing beef roads in our North to help make the delivery of beef to market more efficient and safe. Moving cattle from the farm to market involves some of the longest land transport distances of any Australian commodity. The land transport costs of our northern beef industry comprise up to 35 per cent of the market price of livestock. There are other factors such as floods and seasonal road closures that can isolate producers from their markets for extended periods. The northern Australian beef roads fund will improve the productivity and resilience of cattle supply chains in northern Australia, starting from the Tropic of Capricorn. I was pleased to see agriculture mentioned so much in the budget last night. The $5 billion for northern Australia will have a significant impact on the growth of northern Australia for generations.

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