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

As I was saying before I was rudely attacked again, Madam Acting Deputy President, two years before any beef will come into Australia there will be an import risk analysis. There is absolutely no argument about that. This decision was based on science. I have said it before and I will say it again, and I will put it in an email for them if they need it. In 2000, when there was a mad cow disease outbreak in Britain, the previous government were correct to implement an across-the-board ban. They were absolutely correct and there is no argument about that. They did the right thing by Australia, by Australian consumers and by Australian producers, and they did the right thing by our market and our trading partners. But the science has moved on. There is far greater science around mad cow disease now than there was then. The government sat down with the beef industry and the health industry and consulted widely. It would not hurt for that lot over there to remember who was involved. It was not a rash decision. The decision was made on the science and it was on good science.