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

Thank you. In terms of cattle for Indonesia, the office around March and April had some indication from animal welfare associations that there were concerns about animal welfare outcomes in Indonesia. But, to be clear about this, the evidence that was relied on in making a decision in relation to the suspension was supplied to my office and me on 30 May, the day that the Four Corners television program went to air. From that decision a range of events occurred. That evening I banned 12 facilities after preparing advice from the department. All of that is in this context: right back through from January I had been writing to industry and indicating to industry that they needed to improve their animal welfare outcomes. In doing so, I have been en­couraging them to improve their animal welfare outcomes over time. They responded with a plan during that period, and with that plan I clearly indicated to them that (a) I did not endorse it; and (b) it certainly did not go far enough—its time lines were too short. What I continued to say to industry during this period was that they did need to improve their animal welfare outcomes—unlike, of course, those on the other side, where today we still see that the opposition and the Western Australian government would condemn cattle to cruelty, because they have no idea where the cattle would be sent if you were simply to tick off abattoirs as we speak and allow cattle to be sent into Indonesia. (Time expired)