Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The last 12 months, since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived on our shores, have thrown into sharp relief what is necessary to Australia and Australians: a hardworking, efficient transport industry and supply chains and well-stocked shelves with food grown by our Australian farmers. So it is shocking that last month Coles Supermarkets used its significant market position and its monthly magazine to encourage people to eat less meat, allegedly on dietary and environmental grounds. While it is truly astounding that Coles would ignore solid science around meat's place in a balanced diet, it is even more concerning that the advice was offered in part on sustainability grounds. After an outcry from meat industry groups, Coles has removed the advice from its website, the least it could do after misrepresenting the reality of sustainable Australian farming practices and the work of Australian farming families.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines are titled Eat for healthAustralian Dietary Guidelines: Providing the Scientific Evidence for Healthier Australian Diets. It is a fact that many Australians are not eating enough red meat. Too often these days, ideology and wokeness override facts. As recently as 22 January, Beef Central journalist James Nason wrote:

… 2021 is shaping as another "severe beef bashing year" from many quarters, despite the significant body of evidence debunking the case against beef on climate and health grounds.

For Coles to cast aspersions on the sustainability of Australia's meat industry is a prime example of virtue signalling that has no place in advice on a healthy diet. Any dietary advice must be made on the basis of benefits to human health, not the antifarming propaganda that vegans, eco warriors and animal activists flood social media with every day.

Only recently, we've seen supermarkets try to encourage more meat sales by promoting RSPCA approved chicken, hormone-free beef, dolphin-free tuna and free-range pork and eggs, so this recent about-face is baffling. Why send contradictory and, frankly, misleading messages to consumers? Why would such an influential voice as Coles cast doubt on Australian produce when there is so much evidence to counter the shrill untruths peddled by activists? Australia has among the toughest animal welfare standards in the world. Our meat growers are conscientious, efficient and, yes, sustainable. For them to be anything but that would be unacceptable. These people have listened to community sentiment around raising animals, and they have responded. Any farmer who fails to meet community and industry expectations just won't cut it. Coles and other big supermarkets and restaurants must recognise this and defend the very people who are proud to put the word 'Australian' on what they send to market.

As the convener of the Parliamentary Friends of Australian Red Meat group, I stand with those Australians who work tirelessly to grow the food that ends up in our restaurants, our butcheries, our barbecues and, of course, supermarkets like Coles. But I cannot stand by silent while I see such terrible mistruths peddled against an industry that is the world's best, world-leading in the product that we grow and in the way that we grow it. It is deemed a necessary part of a beneficial human diet by the guidelines. The foods in that group have traditionally been seen as protein rich. They provide a wide variety of other nutrients that may be more important in the typical high-protein Australian diet. Important nutrients include iodine, iron, zinc, other minerals, vitamins—especially B12—and essential fatty acids, including omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid. All indigenous Australian fish contain omega-3. Grass-fed meats, poultry and some eggs are also sources of these essential fatty acids. Evidence of the health benefits of lean meat and alternatives is consistently recognised in international dietary guidelines.