Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

Let's be very clear about what we're doing tonight. We are shutting down an industry. If those opposite, the teals and the Independents get their way, we are shutting down an industry, a $1 billion industry. And why are we doing it? We're doing it because of ideology—nothing else. It's ideology, pure ideology. There is no other reason why this is occurring. And all those who are going to vote in favour of shutting down a $1 billion industry should think again because, sadly, the message you're sending to regional and rural Australia is that you don't care. The message you're also sending is that they can have no confidence whatsoever that you won't do it to other regional and rural industries.

There is no reason why we should be debating this bill at all. Time and time again, this industry—and let's remember how long it's been operating for. You can go back to the 1830s and 1840s and see that we were sending livestock from this country to other parts of the world. And every single time we did it we sought to improve how we went about doing it, to the extent that we built a $1 billion industry, which you are going to try and close down. I hope it won't occur, but, if it does, I want every farmer to know and everyone in regional and rural Australia to know this: the coalition is with you. If we're elected at the next election, we will overturn this ban and we will allow you to get the trade up and going again.

Let's look at what's going to happen if it's successful. What is going to happen if it's successful? Do you think it's going to improve animal welfare outcomes when it comes to the live export of sheep globally? No. It's actually going to see those animal welfare outcomes deteriorate, because we set the gold standard when it comes to the live export of sheep. As a matter of fact, our gold standard means that the fatalities we see in live sheep exports are often less than those we see through natural causes out in the paddock. The dangerous precedent you're setting here means that people are going to say, 'Well, if they banned live sheep exports because of the small number of fatalities we've seen, what are they going to say when it comes to natural grazing or when it comes to feedlotting?' You'll start the campaign to try and close that off. And what will happen to our food security? Our food security will start to disappear.

And look at the time you are doing this. Once again, it shows that you do not care about regional and rural Australia. It means you do not care for farmers, because you're doing it at a time when we are starting to see the impacts of drought in parts of western Victoria, in parts of south-eastern South Australia and in Western Australia. So, at a time when farmers are doing it really tough, what's the response of the government, the teals and the Independents? We're going to make life harder for you.

What has happened to the price of sheep as a result of this government's action, which has been supported by the teals and the Independents? It's seen the price of sheep collapse. There might have been a slight recovery in the price, but it saw it collapse. This is at a time when, especially for young farmers, there are dry conditions, when they've got high interest rate payments and high fodder payments, when the cost of living and the cost of insurance are going through the roof. And what do you do? You bring in a bill that pulls the rug from under them by making sure the returns they're going to get on one of their key industries is taken away from them.

Although this has been incredibly difficult and incredibly hard for Western Australia, and it's having a huge impact in Western Australia—and I acknowledge the presence here of my good friend Rick Wilson, who has, I think, fought more than any member in this place to make sure that this important industry for Western Australia continues—it's also had a huge flow-on effect in Queensland, in New South Wales and in my home state of Victoria, including in western Victoria where my electorate is. I cannot believe that those opposite will not look at the facts and the science when it comes to this issue, because the facts and the science show that we are continuing to improve the outcomes when it comes to this trade, to the extent that we have vets who go on ships and come back and vouch for those outcomes. Yet you will not listen to those veterinary scientists, and it's a shame on all of you.

Let's turn to the compensation. As we know, this is a billion-dollar industry, which flows through to thousands upon thousands of jobs in regional and rural Australia. And what's the government come up with as compensation? A $100 million scheme. Heaven only knows how that is going to be divided up to deal with the loss of a $1 billion industry. That money flows into regional and rural Australia and helps small businesses. How are they going to get helped by this $100 million fund that is being set up? What they want is the continuation of the $1 billion industry, and that is what we want to see. As I've said before—and I speak for all coalition members—if we're elected, let us remember this: we will restore the trade.

I commend Keep the Sheep, an organic, grassroots movement which has sprung up to defend the livelihood of people in regional and rural Australia. They now have more signatures on a petition to keep the live sheep export trade than there were on the petition that led to the teals, the Independents and the government wanting to close it down. As a matter of fact, I have just seen, from the member for O'Connor—and I might need to put my glasses on so I get it right!—that Keep the Sheep now have 61,000 signatures on their petition. I want to get this right. I think the petition which led to this industry being closed down had around 30,000?

An honourable member: Forty-three.

Forty-three. We've got nearly one-third—33 per cent—more signatures than the petition which led to this being closed down. That says it all. I must say that one of the really encouraging things about Keep the Sheep is that not only have they put their signatures in place; they've raised funds. They have raised funds. And they're going to campaign to make sure that those people who are shutting this $1 billion trade down will know that they're not happy about it, because it's shutting down a key industry in regional and rural Australia. So far they've raised $364,000 to run that campaign. That keeps going up, dollar for dollar, each day and each week. I know that Keep the Sheep are coming to Sheepvention Rural Expo in August. They'll set up a marquee, and be out promoting the live export trade there. I'd encourage everyone who believes in regional and rural Australia to make sure they sign the petition for Keep the Sheep, and make sure that they donate so they can send a message loud and clear to the Labor government, to the teals and to the Independents that we want to keep this $1 billion industry.

Let's go back to why we want to keep it. In the last decade, considerable steps have been made, and continue to be made, to make sure that we improve animal welfare outcomes. Rather than shut the industry down, the position the coalition has taken is to work with that industry to make sure that it continues to improve its animal welfare outcomes. Let's be constructive in what we do, rather than be destructive and shut something down completely. Let's understand the importance of food security—food security not only here in Australia but food security around the rest of the world. Other countries depend on this trade for their food security—in particular, Kuwait and some of the other Gulf states. But what's the message we're sending to them? 'We don't care about your food security.' And, sadly, we're sending a message to our farmers that it seems like this government, the teals and the Independents are quite happy to start slicing food security here in Australia bit, by bit, by bit.

All of us who were here when the Labor Party, with the support of the Independents, shut down the live cattle trade, have seen the dire consequences that occur. We would have thought they'd have learnt from that calamity but, sadly, here we are again; we're about to put a similar burden down—this time not onto live cattle but onto live sheep. We know that, sadly, live cattle are likely to be next. Heaven help us what will happen after that! We know that campaigns are beginning for the transport of cattle and sheep here in Australia. Heaven only knows what will be next. It's always a slippery slope with these groups—particularly when we get those vested interests who have no interest in what occurs in regional and rural Australia.

Let's be honest about this—let's be frank: where is the push coming from? Where is the majority of the push to shut this trade down coming from? It's coming from the inner-city parts of our country. That's the sad reality. One of the things we need to continue to do is to make sure that the gap between our inner cities and what happens in regional and rural Australia doesn't continue to grow and grow. If people do not understand an issue and if people do not educate themselves on an issue—if people don't look at the facts of an issue—then we tend to get outcomes like this. And it's a sad, sad outcome for regional and rural Australia.

I say to those opposite: it's not too late. You can think again about what you're doing here. You can think again about the message you're sending to regional and rural Australia. You can think about the petition which now has over 60,000 signatures on it. You can think of the fund which, organically, has raised well over $300,000. You can think about those farmers who have been here to this parliament and said, 'Please, do not do this.'

I'm going to finish on this, because I think it was the worst thing I've seen through this whole sad, sorry issue, and I think it showed that he knows it. The ag minister's trip to Western Australia has to be one of the most shameful things that anyone's seen from a senior cabinet minister in this country. He flew to Western Australia so he could be seen to be being brave in making this decision. He went to Perth, didn't go out to a farm, didn't meet with the farmer groups, made the decision and jumped on a plane. He couldn't get back to the eastern seaboard quick enough. What a sad indictment. To have courage of conviction would have been to go out, meet with farmers, look them in the eyes and tell them what you're going to do to them. Instead, there was this four-hour trip to Perth and back without even doing the proper consultation.

I commend the National Farmers Federation and all the farming federation groups right across Australia for standing up for this industry and standing up for the livelihoods of farmers across the nation. I commend my Western Australian colleagues, two of whom are in this chamber tonight, for the fight that they have put up to save this industry. I stand with you, I'm sure the farmers in my electorate stand with you, and we will restore this $1 billion trade if we are elected at the next election.

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