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

I thank Senator Sterle for his first supplementary question. The Senate would be aware that I wrote to Meat and Livestock Australia, asking that industry association to make an initial contribution of $5 million to a contingency fund to deal with short-term impacts in the domestic supply chain. Disappointingly, I received a reply from the MLA stating that the board would not provide those funds. This is a response from the industry body which does not seem to accept their substantial role in relation to the present issue. I wrote to the MLA with a draft direction and met with the representative on Friday to discuss their response. The MLA's response was that no producer required or needed any support. I once again call upon the MLA to make funds available for a contingency fund drawn from their reserves to respond to the current situation. (Time expired)