Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Indeed, the Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader has stated that Australia is the only country in the world with the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme in place so that animal welfare is placed front and centre of everything we do. Nationals senators who have put forward this motion should heed the words of their leader to ensure that the live export industry continues to be a world leader with regard to animal welfare and continues to operate on a sustainable basis—meaning that, as new scientific evidence comes to the attention of the live animal export regulator, governments make decisions that ensure the welfare of the animals, as did the former agriculture minister, Senator McKenzie, and the current agriculture minister, Minister Littleproud, who supported the moratorium on live sheep to the Middle East during the northern summer trade from 1 June to mid-September.