Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

If that is the case, then that is another good announcement, Senator O’Brien. I welcome that announcement, and it is about time. But I think it just goes to demonstrate the pressure that the government has come under from the industry and from the opposition over this complete debacle.

The other thing is traceability. If the Australian beef industry is going to have traceability, which is mandated by government and is an expense, the opposition believes that growers from any other country that wishes to import beef into this country should have the same imposts as ours. I think that is entirely appropriate. That is what the opposition has been saying for some time, and that is what the bill that we introduced into the parliament earlier today is saying. Full import risk analysis, traceability and country of origin labelling are more than appropriate to deal with the complete mess that the government has created through its handling of this matter.