Sam McMahon (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Ruston, the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management. The egregious decision in 2011 by former Labor Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Joe Ludwig to shut down our live cattle export industry overnight caused extreme hurt across the industry. It decimated the viability of productive and profitable businesses and destroyed communities and families, particularly across my Northern Territory and Queensland. Can the minister please provide an update to the Senate on the status of the Brett Cattle Company legal case?

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

I thank Senator McMahon for her question, recognising the longstanding interest that she has had in this particular industry since well before her time in this place. As Senator McMahon rightly notes, the impact on live exporters of the overnight decision by the former Labor government in 2010 to ban live exports had a massive impact on Australia and it particularly had a massive impact on the families and communities right across the nation that were directly involved in this industry.

On 22 July this year the federal government made and announced the decision that it will not be appealing the Federal Court case which ruled in favour of the Brett Cattle Company. Losses and damages will be appropriately determined by the court because we believe that the prolonged pain and hardship that has been caused to this industry has gone on long enough. On this side of the chamber we believe that the industry deserves certainty. We believe it deserves our support going forward and that certainty has been denied this industry for some time now. The livelihoods of producers were basically cut off overnight, and our focus from here on has to be on supporting our farmers, our exporters and the people that support that industry. They are an absolutely integral part of the Australian economy and have never been more important than they are now, along with our resources sector, as key pillars to support Australia through the absolute pain and devastation of this current COVID crisis. It is a $1.7 billion industry that supports our economy. There are over 10,000 jobs within the industry and in associated industry. We as a government are absolutely strongly committed to supporting and growing the value of agriculture, and that includes our live export industry. We have a very strong record of doing it and we will continue to do it.

This was jeopardised. We're going to fix that problem now.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McMahon, a supplementary question?

Sam McMahon (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister please outline the support the Liberal and National government is providing to our cattle producers, particularly as they continue to manage through or recover from drought, floods and the impacts of COVID-19?

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

Thank you, Senator McMahon. This government is absolutely 100 per cent committed to supporting our farmers, and that includes our live cattle producers. This government has committed over $10 billion across the country to supporting drought response and recovery and preparedness actions following the 2019 floods. We also committed $3.3 billion in additional support measures. The National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency made available $300 million in grants to support restocking and replanting, as well as rebuilding on-farm infrastructure that was damaged. This funding is helping all agriculture but particularly our cattle producers to get back on their feet, because we know that when they are on their feet they do great things for the Australian economy.

We understand there will be another drought, which is why we put in place the permanent drought fund, so that we can provide $100 million a year during drought years to make sure that we are prepared and resilient to the impacts of droughts when they inevitably again occur in the future.

Sam McMahon (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister please outline to the Senate the importance of the live animal export industry to Australia and our efforts to ensure extremely high standards of animal welfare?

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

Live exports in this country are underpinned by very strong regulation that supports good animal welfare outcomes. We have a framework in place which focuses continually on making sure that we improve and to make sure that the industry meets the community's expectations. There are standards for things like vessel preparation, sourcing, loading and on-board management of livestock—making sure that things like ventilation, drainage, stock densities and the provision of food and water to animals on these vessels are absolutely first class. We always make sure that there is an accredited stockperson on board the ship and in many instances there is a veterinarian as well. The framework also includes processes to investigate when a situation does occur and there is an incident. But we need to remember the overwhelming number of voyages that leave Australia with live animals on board are undertaken without any incident at all. The government absolutely condemns cruelty to animals and that's why we put in place a world-class— (Time expired)