Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Labor will not be supporting this motion, because we do not believe it is appropriate for the minister to intervene on the decision of the live export regulator. We do hold deep concerns for the welfare of the sheep that will be exported to the Middle East under an exemption provided by Mr Hazlehurst, who is the delegate of the secretary for the purposes of the northern summer order. However, we strongly believe that the position of live export regulator should be truly independent from the department to ensure that a minister of any government persuasion does not have undue influence over the final decision when granting exemptions for or against export licences.