Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

No. Anyway, that is the way the scheme works. It is basically a bargaining fee. You have to pay the fee but you can choose to be a member after you pay the fee. So what is the MLA do. I should say upfront that there are a lot of very smart people in the MLA. Some of the research they do is very commendable, particularly some of the work measuring methane coming from sheep and cattle. They have done some wonderful things. It says on their web page:

MLA has the unique responsibility of providing marketing and research and development services to over 47,000 cattle, sheep and goat producer members and the broader red meat industry to help them meet community and consumer expectations.

MLA is committed to fostering world leadership for the Australian red meat and livestock industry by creating opportunities—

and the like. The MLA is charged with that job. That is why it was set up. A levy is paid every time an animal is slaughtered, every time an animal is sold and the MLA has that responsibility. I would suggest that any reasonable person would agree that the MLA has dropped the ball on this occasion. I know there are a lot of good people in there working hard but we are the government and we have to cop flak. We accept that the buck stops with us. We are responsible but I would suggest the MLA is culpable here for really dropping the ball in terms of what was going on in Indonesia. The MLA is the peak body representing the meat and livestock industry. It gets a government subsidy for research and lots of things but as stated in the Australian today:

... the meat and livestock industry, which gets a government subsidy for research and development, planned to spend $3.4 million on improving animal welfare in 2010-11 compared with $23 million on marketing beef exports, out of total expected earnings of $173m.

The reality is the MLA was charged with a certain job and it dropped the ball.

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