Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tuesday 2 June was a day of great highs and great lows for Western Australian farmers, particularly those in my electorate and those across the member for Durack's electorate who rely on the live export trade. In the morning, we had Justice Steven Rares of the Federal Court hand down his findings in Brett Cattle Company Pty Ltd v Minister for Agriculture. I want to emphasise here: this is not the current minister for agriculture; it was a former minister for agriculture in a Labor administration, Joe Ludwig. The case related to the 25-day shutdown of our cattle trade to Indonesia in 2011. Justice Rares found that former Minister Ludwig had 'acted in misfeasance', which is abuse of public office.

Those of us who lived through those days will remember very well the devastation that was wreaked upon many farming and pastoral operations across the north of the state and the damage that it did. It did long-term damage, not just to the farmers but to the supply chain, the truckies, the feedlots, the shippers and others.

But one thing that many people forget is the damage that it did to our relationship with Indonesia. The then agriculture minister for Indonesia, Suswono, said: 'I'm really annoyed by the lack of courtesy shown to Indonesia by Australia in this matter.' In diplomatic terms, that's very, very strong language.

Some of the impacts were that the price of meat within Indonesia rose 80 per cent, which put enormous pressure on the Indonesian people and their ability to buy protein. Our sales of cattle to Indonesia dropped from 520,000 in 2010 to 278,000 in 2012. That was because the Indonesian government introduced a quota of $280,000. But it didn't just impact the live cattle trade; it impacted our boned meat trade, which fell from 48,000 tonnes in 2010 to 34,000 tonnes in 2011. So the damage that was done to the industry was ongoing and very severe.

Then, on Tuesday evening, unfortunately, we heard the decision on the application by the Rural Export & Trading (WA) company to ship sheep on the Al Messilah inside of the quarantine period. The application was for the Al Messilah to leave Fremantle on 7 June, and that was seven days after the new moratorium that was introduced by the government this year. I've got to say that I'm very disappointed by that decision, and I just want to quote a couple of lines from the decision as it was handed down by the department's secretary or his delegate. It says: 'I accept that, if the contingent, which comprises some 56,000 sheep, is diverted into the domestic market, it is likely to depress prices and impact farm-gate sales.' Well, that is absolutely true. That is very true, because these 56,000 sheep in the feedlot will have to be absorbed into the local processing market, which means that those processors will not be at the saleyards buying sheep. But there is another important aspect, which is also noted by the departmental secretary's delegate, as follows: 'I have regard to the possibility that my decision may adversely impact trading partners' confidence in the Australian government's regulatory oversight of exported goods, which may adversely impact the interests and long-term viability of the live animal export industry.' Well, that is correct. However, it goes much broader than that.

Kuwait and the Middle East generally are great importers of Australian grain, and last year they imported $160 million of Western Australian wheat, to name just one product. So, in light of the decision a fortnight ago of the Chinese government to impose an 80 per cent tariff on malt barley—which, over the last three years, has been almost exclusively produced out of Western Australia—this is a second hit to Western Australian farmers, and I am very disappointed, on behalf of those farmers and my constituents, that it has come to this. I have seen and heard communications between the Kuwaiti government and our own government here. The minister for trade has received communications from the Kuwaiti government, and there is more on the way. They are very disappointed because, at the moment, the Kuwaiti people are more than ever reliant on receiving those live sheep from the Australian market. So I want to put on the record tonight my disappointment in the decision that was handed down by the department last Tuesday.

House adjourned at 19 : 59