Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mr Burke. Can the minister assure the House of more humane processing in the three South-East Asian meatworks media targeted yesterday? Could the minister further assure the House that we are not going to impose our religious beliefs and values on our neighbours? Is the minister aware that an estimated one-third of Indonesian people go to bed hungry every night?

But these people are not allowed to fish in our waters nor prawn farm our empty land, and an ox processed in Australia costs $7,500, precluding purchase by any Indonesian. In light of this, Minister, wouldn't they be entitled to say, 'Fair go, mate'? Could the minister advise, since it will no longer pay to provide water and feed, how our nature lovers intend to deal with cattle now dying? Could the minister finally advise these people parading as nature lovers to watch the worldwide nature program National Geographic, whose advertisement is of one animal ripping another to pieces? (Time expired)

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kennedy for the question in my capacity here representing the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. I appreciate the perspective and the concerns of the electorate of Kennedy when anything relates to the live export industry. I have been with the member for Kennedy to Normanton and Cloncurry and met with some of the graziers and pastoralists there. It is a similar story across much of the north of Australia, going across through the Northern Territory and into Western Australia. There are a large number of jobs, family businesses and Indigenous employment operations which are underpinned by very large pastoralist industries.

It is also true that the reason that this debate has taken off in such a way over the last 24 hours is that the footage that was on television last night was just awful. I felt that watching it, I am sure every Australian felt that and I am sure every farmer felt that as well. I note the comments that have been made by the New South Wales Farmers Association already about the distress that many of their members have felt in seeing their own stock treated in the way that we saw last night at a number of establishments. The footage was only made available to the minister for agriculture shortly before that program went to air. In that time, a number of actions have been taken and shortly before we went to question time the minister for agriculture provided a detailed media conference where he went through the gravity of what had been sighted and also the specific actions which he had already undertaken and further actions which he has left the way open for.

Suffice to say of those specific establishments that have been involved and have been seen in that footage that Australian farmers do expect that their stock will be treated better than that. The Australian people expect that animals originating from Australia will be treated better than that, and the actions taken thus far by the minister have centred on those specific establishments.