Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Clearly, the evidence that we have seen from the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association has put the damage bill from the 2011 decision at hundreds of millions of dollars, much of it felt in your home state of the Northern Territory, Senator. Some 700,000 head of cattle were exported in 2009-10; 266,000 were exported straight after the ban. Some 1,500 farm businesses were affected by this decision right across northern Australia—none more than in your home state of the Northern Territory, Senator. You can't shut down an industry overnight without impacting farmers, families, businesses and communities that rely on this industry, and the pain will always be amplified in rural areas. The former NTCA Chief Executive, Tracey Hayes, said that the association hoped the recent decision would forever be a warning to government that political populism and knee-jerk decisions are not acceptable in any context.