Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Abetz. I refer the minister to the footage screened on the 60 Minutes program last Sunday night showing extreme cruelty being inflicted on cattle at a slaughterhouse in Egypt that regularly receives Australian animals as part of our live export trade. Can the minister give an assurance to the Senate and the Australian public that none of the sheep or cattle exported to the Middle East in their hundreds of thousands will be subjected to the sort of extreme cruelty that has now been documented a number of times as occurring in many of the areas they are sent to? Is the minister also aware that, according to the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Middle Eastern countries already accept over 50,000 tonnes of meat slaughtered in Australia in a halal accredited manner—the equivalent of over two million animals? Why does the government not put as much energy into expanding the slaughtered meat trade from Australia as it does trying to boost the live animal trade, which clearly involves cruelty levels that many Australians find unacceptable?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The images on 60 Minutes show practices that are totally unacceptable to, I would imagine, all Australians. Can I say, as a former honorary legal adviser to the RSPCA in my home state of Tasmania for a number of years, those sorts of images appal me just as much as I am sure they appal Senator Bartlett.

I am able to inform the senator that the Egyptian government has told our industry that these practices are illegal in Egypt as well. Mr McGauran has written to his counterpart in the Egyptian government asking for advice on how investigations into these allegations and these practices are going to be carried out and whether or not these practices are common in Egyptian abattoirs. I am assured that the Egyptian authorities view this issue as seriously as we do here.

The Australian government and the livestock export industry take animal welfare issues very seriously. The industry operates under practices that lead the world in ensuring good animal welfare procedures are in place along the supply chain to the port of unloading. No other country has done as much to this end. This is not, however, the end of the story. Australia has been working directly with a number of countries in the Middle East to improve animal welfare practices up to and including the point of slaughter. Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the Middle East recently committed to working with Australia to improve animal handling practices across the entire region. This follows meetings involving Australian officials where recent international guidelines were discussed.

We have also been active in Egypt. The abattoir mentioned in the 60 Minutes footage has received funding from both the Australian government and Australian industry to improve stock handling and processing practices. This has included provision and installation of a restraint box to assist with the humane slaughter of cattle. The allegation by 60 Minutes that it is not being used has been refuted by industry. Mr McGauran has sent the Australian consul for agriculture, fisheries and forestry in this region to investigate the allegation in association with Egyptian authorities. If we find that the 60 Minutes allegations are accurate, there will be no further cattle shipped to Egypt until conditions have improved.

I note some suggestions that the cattle displayed in those horrific scenes did not originate from Australia, but all those matters are currently being investigated. The simple fact is, I think, that we in Australia condemn the practices that were portrayed on our TV sets the other night. We as an Australian government are taking that very seriously. That is why my colleague Mr McGauran has announced that exports to Egypt have been terminated in the interim, until further investigations can take place.

Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I remind the minister of the part of my question that asked whether or not the Australian government would put extra energy into expanding the already quite significant slaughtered meat trade from Australia to Middle Eastern countries. I also ask who the minister is relying on for information about how well these concerns are being addressed. Clearly Minister McGauran was surprised to see the footage on 60 Minutes, even though the Animals Australia organisation had notified him about those concerns as far back as last July. Is this another case reminiscent of the AWB situation, where the government and the minister simply rely on assurances from industry that everything is going fine and do not listen to anybody with concerns about the way the industry operates?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did indicate in my previous answer that Mr McGauran had sent the Australian consul for agriculture, fisheries and forestry in the region to investigate the allegations in association with the Egyptian authorities. It seems appropriate that we rely on people of that nature to do the investigations for us. It always is unfortunate when people do let you down. You do trust people, you do pay people to do the right thing, and that is why we do have mechanisms in place to try to ensure that people do not do the wrong thing. But unfortunately, human nature being what it is, we will have these outbreaks from time to time of activities that are not acceptable. Indeed, the Egyptian authorities themselves have said that these practices are allegedly illegal in Egypt—and yet they do take place. If the Egyptians themselves cannot control that activity, I suppose it is even more difficult for us as Australians to try to control that activity in Egypt. (Time expired)