Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia's dietary guidelines are a trusted reference on what we should eat for healthy living. So I'm confused and, I must say, pretty worked up by the news that there's a threat to remove or reduce red meat from the guidelines. Apparently, new evidence has shown that lean red meat consumption is no longer healthy. This is absolutely not right and not correct. Red meat continues to be an important source of iron, zinc and B vitamins. It is one of the main sources of vitamin B12 as well as omega-3s.

In fact, this decision has nothing to do with food science at all. It's being driven by so-called environmental sustainability considerations. These important guidelines, which have always been based on evidence and food science, have been hijacked by climate activist organisations pushing their ideological agendas against the red meat industry, and it's not good enough. This is an industry that is hitting targets of being carbon neutral by 2030 and has reduced net greenhouse gas emissions by 65 per cent since 2005. We should be applauding our farmers, not ripping away their futures.

Our nation has one of the highest obesity levels in the world. Now is not the time to replace food science with political environmental grandstanding. After all, if we weren't supposed to eat animals then why are they made of meat?