Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are proud Western Australians and our children were born in Western Australia! I must say that the Western Australians certainly have their act together in truth in labelling. In fact, every state that came to see us held the Western Australian model in very high regard. I think that is because the last time that a rogue was caught substituting hogget for lamb there he did about two years in jail. We also had submissions and heard evidence from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, who provided evidence at the 10 June hearing; and an officer from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission appeared at the 9 July hearing.

The committee found that substitution, while not widespread throughout Australia, is a legitimate cause of concern to the industry. The industry is currently attempting to address that concern. Claims of a higher incidence of substitution emanating from buyers or processors based in Victoria were noted, as I said earlier. The committee also noted that, as AUS-MEAT accreditation is voluntary for domestic-only abattoirs, it is difficult to ensure AUS-MEAT language standards are applied consistently to all sheepmeat destined for the domestic market.

I will take the time to put to the Senate the recommendations of the committee’s interim report, which were negotiated in good faith by all parties on the committee. We are all hand in hand on these recommendations, we stand by them and, if the Senate indulges me, I would like to quote them.

Recommendation 1 is:

The committee recommends that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, through the forum of the Primary Industries Ministerial Council, seek the support of state and territory primary industries ministers to harmonise national standards for all domestic meat slaughtering and processing establishments. The committee further recommends that, regardless of the model adopted, the harmonised national standard must include maintenance of dentition as the standard for classifying an animal as lamb and must require that 100 per cent of animals classified as lamb are mouthed at slaughter.

Another recommendation:

The committee recommends that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, through the forum of the Primary Industries Ministerial Council, consider the costs and benefits of applying the West Australian standard as the model for national harmonisation including examination of compliance and enforcement issues.

Finally:

The committee recommends that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs consider, when available, the findings of the Sheepmeat Council of Australia and the Australian Meat Industry Council’s review of Lamb Brand Control and Verification. The committee recommends that, where appropriate and feasible, the relevant Commonwealth agencies assist the sheepmeat industry to implement recommendations arising from the review.

Quite clearly, Australians deserve to know what they are buying. It is quite simple. There is no argument about that.

I would like to take the opportunity once again to thank my fellow senators on the committee: the chair, Senator Siewert; government senators Senator O’Brien, Senator Hutchins and Senator Hurley; and opposition senators Senator Nash, Senator McGauran and Senator Heffernan. There was a lot of work put in. Once again, I cannot stress enough the gratefulness of the committee to our secretariat, who do a sterling job. They do a fantastic job. They have just today cleared up two reports and all of a sudden we will be doing another one, on horse disease, which I certainly am looking forward to. On that, I commend the report to the Senate.