Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Will the minister update the House on the status of the horse disease response levy bills, policies affecting the horse industry, measures to help deal with future disease outbreaks, and any risks to these measures.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wakefield for his question about this important industry and also for giving me the chance to talk about horses in question time today. We are talking about a $3.6 billion industry—a massive industry that at the time of the change of government had already been brought to its knees through the outbreak of equine influenza. There have been different approaches between the previous government and us as to the best ways of engaging and assisting the horse industry. Members would be aware that at different times some in opposition have claimed that we are not doing enough with on-farm irrigation, and there is often the argument raised on radio that the government are not doing enough with actual on-farm irrigation projects. I do have to say that the previous government had an on-farm irrigation project that did eclipse any of ours—it was $5 million for a single site. I have to say that, sadly, it was not for irrigation areas in the Riverland, and it was not for the Riverina or the Sunraysia—it was for the irrigation of Flemington racecourse. There was $5 million from the department of agriculture for the irrigation of Flemington racecourse, for a minister who, immediately after leaving parliament, just happened to take a job with the Thoroughbred Breeders Australia Association.

The previous government failed to deliver the quality of quarantine systems that industry had a right to expect. For each livestock industry, whether it be chickens, pigs, cattle or sheep, there is a system known as the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement, known as EADRA, where industry and government share the costs if there is to be an animal disease outbreak. This was never done for the horse industry, so there was an agreement from the previous government with the horse industry that we would presume that there was a levy in place and act accordingly. When we came to government, because a levy had not been put in place the government footed the bill in full following the receipt of the Callinan report.

We then went about reintroducing the horse disease response levy bills, which the Australian Horse Industry Council today called to be reintroduced. This is where we did the same for the one area of livestock that had not yet been covered by the emergency disease response. And where legislation had been introduced for a levy for each of the other areas of livestock by the previous government it met with bipartisan support, this was not the case for the horse industry, not the case for a $3.6 billion industry that took a $1 billion hit last time there was a disease outbreak. Under the direction of the shadow minister for agriculture, the opposition in the Senate voted to block these bills, which resulted in Australian Harness Racing expressing its disappointment, resulted in the Australian Horse Industry Council describing it as a shattering outcome for Australian horse owners and was best put by the Australian Racing Board, which said:

What makes the Federal Opposition’s actions even worse is that it follows 10 years of procrastination on the issue while they were in office. Minister after Minister in the Howard Government was “going” to do something about a horse disease response levy but it always ended up in the too-hard basket. After 10 years of sitting on their hands while they had responsibility they then commit the ultimate sell out—the new [minister]—

that would be me—

… recognises the size and importance of the horse industry and has put forward a responsible Bill only to see it defeated.

I table each of those media releases.

Make no mistake: if there is another outbreak of equine influenza in Australia, we are not in a position to eradicate it again. This is a massive economic impact on a $1 billion industry, and if there were to be another outbreak, because of the actions of the National Party in making the call that that legislation would be blocked, Australia stands now as one of the only nations in the world to successfully eradicate equine influenza and is now forced into a position, because of irresponsible behaviour in the Senate, where that can never be done again.

You look at the people, and the level of embarrassment that must be there. This is what happens when you have a coalition arrangement. This is what happens when the Liberal Party says that the party that represents the smallest number of country seats in this parliament can make this sort of call and cause this sort of damage to industry. For all of the rural members of the Liberal Party who take an interest in these issues, they are in a coalition arrangement that says they never get to make a policy call in this area. It will always be deferred to the one party where you could take any member of their own backbench and place them on the frontbench and it would be an improvement. Well, not every member of the backbench, but for most of the members of their backbench, you could put them there and it would be an improvement. But it is not just the rural Liberal members who pay the price. One of our largest industries, a $3.6 billion industry recovering from a $1 billion hit from the last outbreak, takes a direct hit squarely at the feet of a coalition arrangement that puts the National Party in charge.