Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the member for Grey's motion condemning the Albanese government for its reckless decision to shut down Australia's live sheep export industry. I acknowledge that the member for Grey is, indeed, here with me in the chamber. I want to begin my contribution to this debate by thanking all of the members of the Coalition's Agriculture, Water and Environment Backbench Committee for visiting Western Australia and listening to our farmers who really are under attack—a visit, I might add, that the Prime Minister is yet to make.

We had members from this side of the House travelling from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. And what this trip really demonstrates is the unity of our coalition team. All of us on this side of the House are committed to the future of agriculture in this country and understand that the live sheep trade is an important component of that future. This reckless decision significantly affects communities within my electorate of Durack as well as farmers across the electorate of O'Connor, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the member for O'Connor for his advocacy as well.

As noted in the report, the decision to phase out the live sheep trade has already had a disastrous impact, with confidence in the industry being destroyed. As a result, local markets have been overwhelmed and prices have dropped significantly. Farmers are struggling to sell their sheep above the price of freight and, in some cases, have had to make the tragic decision to sell their sheep at a loss or kill and bury them on their own farms. Could you imagine how heartbreaking that must be for those farmers? The number of farmers deciding to quit raising sheep altogether is progressively increasing, which has left communities within my electorate reeling.

At the York committee hearing, we heard from Karen Thomas, the president of the York Business Association. Karen is a relatively new resident to York but has quickly picked up on Labor's bias against regional Australia. Although not directly connected to the industry, she said this decision will affect the town's long-term future. We also heard from Gavin Hagboom, a proud fifth-generation farmer from Dowerin, who said he is currently witnessing the demise of his own community with the town struggling to keep its general store open.

These are heart-wrenching stories. We are literally talking about towns that have been around for well over 100 years vanishing before our eyes, and those opposite are directly responsible. I see we have a few Labor members to speak on this motion. I hope they are so committed to phasing out this industry that they read this report and what it means for regional Western Australia. I hope they comprehend exactly what they are doing.

What adds insult to injury is that this decision has been falsely justified. Our live export industry is leading the world in terms of animal welfare. Over the past several years, multiple actions have been taken to ensure that exporters are meeting the highest possible standards, so high in fact that the onboard mortality rates are often better than on the farm. What do those opposite think will happen if our industry collapses? Foreign markets certainly won't move to frozen supply from Australia. Instead, foreign competitors who don't care at all about animal welfare will fill the void, so not only will Western Australian farmers suffer but so will the animals.

I'd also like to note the timely fashion of this report being delivered, so well done to the member for Grey. Despite only visiting regional Western Australia just a few short weeks ago, the committee has been able to table this report today. If only the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry worked to such a timely schedule. As we know, the independent panel delivered their report to the minister in October, and it has still not seen the light of day. I expect it's gathering dust as we speak. The independent report is supposed to detail potential mechanisms to phase out live sheep exports, a suggested time frame and potential ways to support the transition.

I'd like to conclude by reflecting on the words of David Connolly, the outgoing president of the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association, speaking on the latest delays—can you believe it?—to the class action lawsuit against the Gillard government's actions in shutting down the live export of cattle overnight in 2011, when he said that this government is 'hell-bent on punishing the rural sector'. I couldn't agree more. Once again, we see the needs and the desires and the livelihoods of regional Australians being put under threat just to satisfy the desire to get votes from the inner-city Greens.

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