Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The LIVEXchange conference is underway in my home town of Darwin at the moment. Australia's live cattle export trade contributes more than $1 billion to our national economy each year. It employs over 1,500 people, with over 80 per cent of those jobs in northern Australia. In the last financial year alone, 240,000 cattle were exported from the Port of Darwin, and that rises to more than 1.7 million cattle exported since 2017.

As a Territorian, I'm proud to celebrate this industry and to reaffirm the Albanese Labor government's support of the live cattle industry. From the cattle stations to the export yards at Berrimah, this is essential to the Northern Territory's economy. Our government is strengthening markets and the quality of meat produced in our country through investments in biosecurity, livestock traceability, trade focus, drought resilience and much, much more.

I send my best wishes to those in the industry who are together in Darwin at the moment—those representatives at the LIVEXchange conference in Darwin. On behalf of the government, we look forward to working together to strengthen Australia's live cattle industry.