Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

It is clear that industry has been on notice on this issue for some time. My office and I have been talking with industry about how to improve animal welfare outcomes in Indonesia and other markets as well. What the industry repre­sentatives and industry bodies together have brought back to my office has never gone far enough or provided us sufficient confidence that they would be able to deal with the live animal export industry and ensure the animal welfare outcomes that we would accept. No-one would accept the animal welfare outcomes that we saw on the ABC Four Corners program.

This government has been working closely with industry to ensure that we can continue to have a live animal export industry. It has been working with them not only at the time of the ABC program but post that as well, continuously, to ensure that we can highlight the fact that this industry needs to take responsibility for the animal welfare outcomes in Indonesia. This industry has allowed the self-regulatory approach to continue without the necessary checks and balances that are required. If you look at the actions that I have taken, you see an immediate investigation into the footage and evidence was undertaken by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.