Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I rise to speak on the motion brought into the House this morning by the member for Hunter. I would like to point out that livestock exports are important to the ongoing trade in Australia. The industry employs around 10,000 people and contributes significantly to the country's economy, supports many rural and regional communities, and underpins the economic returns to farm gate.

In the first full year of this government, the value of live animal exports has exceeded $1.4 billion and continues to grow. Our international market share and reputation has been built on our ability to supply international markets with a high-quality, reliable and safe source of protein. The livestock trade contributes to the food security of millions of people in importing countries across the world.

The member for Hunter did not mention this: in many parts of the world, live trade and fresh meat are the only option of supply in protein to communities, because of a lack of infrastructure, lack of refrigeration, and the lack of ability to get chilled or frozen produce into those parts of the world.

Australia's leadership in this trade has provided significant opportunity to positively influence animal welfare conditions in importing countries and continues to do so. After the debacle that we saw back in 2011, the Australian government put in the place the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme, ESCAS, and it is now a leading piece of regulation that is world-class.

The review that was put in place showed that, since the introduction of ESCAS, Australia has exported eight million head of livestock to 18 countries with only 22 incidents of animal welfare. I have to say, any incidents of animal welfare are a concern and, as someone who has worked with livestock all their life, no-one wants to see that. But 22 cases out of eight million head is a vast improvement on what we have seen before. The review also indicated that 99 per cent of Australian animals that were exported were treated humanely and in accordance with the standards set out by the World Organisation for Animal Health. In fact, the OIE has said that the Australian livestock export industry is leading the world in animal welfare and the industry's investment in approving implementation of OIE welfare standards had its full and unequivocal support. So it goes back to the provision of training under ESCAS for the livestock industry to more than 8,000 people working in the supply chains in Asia and the Middle East, including managers and animal welfare officers, who help improve animal handling and husbandry techniques and increase the use of stunning equipment.

The department has already introduced the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System regulatory performance report, which is available on its website. The report offers a more efficient approach to providing information on reviews into both alleged and substantial noncompliant activity across the livestock export markets. The department intends to publish this report at least twice a year. This report is in addition to a report by Minister Joyce to the parliament every six months on livestock mortalities on every sea voyage.

So the industry has to manage a unique challenge of ensuring appropriate animal handling and welfare practices from paddock to plate. We have a robust regulatory system to deal with issues when they arise, and that is the ESCAS system. The ESCAS system is the only system in the world which ensures that international animal welfare standards are met throughout the supply chain. No system is perfect, and this industry needs to continue to manage the risks that occur when you move livestock across borders.

The mover mentioned a change to have an inspector-general of welfare and export. The current legislation of livestock export is designed to minimise the risk, and I am confident that we do not need to establish another level of bureaucracy such as an inspector-general of welfare. The inspector-general was a classic example of another layer of bureaucracy, without any real practical outcome.

In conclusion, the mover acknowledged this and I will reinforce what happens when governments do not understand the full complexities of this: the removal of the live cattle trade back in 2011 caused not only untold economic hardship to the cattle industry but also a lot of pain to animals that were left stranded on drought-affected properties.

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