Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to give this speech in memory of O'Connor constituent, Mark Huisman, an innovative deer farmer and loving husband of Keeva. Since Mark's untimely passing last July, Keeva has worked tirelessly to maintain his legacy, single-handedly running Premier Deer Farm. I visited the farm when Mark was still alive and was guided through their novel agricultural enterprise: selectively breeding deer with antler and velvet characteristics specific to the traditional Chinese medicine market. Deer velvet is worth around $110 per kilogram, and the Huismans are the biggest producers of velvet in Australia, yielding about 35 per cent of our annual harvest.

Unfortunately, in May 2023, China ceased importation of frozen deer velvet from both New Zealand and Australia. While New Zealand promptly renegotiated new protocols and resumed the velvet trade with China, Australia did not. In my communications with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, it appears any progress in their negotiations with the General Administration of Customs of China has been painfully slow. Questions asked in Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Senate estimates in March 2025 revealed DAFF were actually unaware of the May 2023 Chinese ban until May 2024, but they had been working on an interim solution to secure export of the 2024 deer velvet harvest.

Meanwhile, Australia's velvet producers were holding that harvest literally on ice at minus 22 degrees Celsius in expensive freezer facilities. I subsequently made several representations to the Minister for Agriculture. In August 2025, Minister Collins provided a glimmer of hope for producers like Keeva Huisman when she stated, 'I'm hopeful the trade may resume in time for the upcoming harvest later this year,' and, 'The department will continue to prioritise the resumption of this trade.' Well, the 2025 harvest is now complete and producers are now stuck with two years of perishable product, which has devalued by up to 45 per cent, whilst unproductive negotiations continue.

For my constituent Keeva Huisman, her future has also stalled. She has an unsellable asset and a business with no turnover. She imports skilled labour from New Zealand to harvest a product with no market, and she has had no income for the past two years. As summer progresses, Keeva has 1,000 hungry deer to feed, many with fawns at foot, and any prospect of turning stock off is limited by local processing capacity of only eight animals per week. With all these delays, Keeva is looking down the barrel, literally, of having to shoot her herd if this trade does not recommence.

I close by commending Keeva on her determination to continue Mark's legacy as Australia's premier producer of quality deer velvet, and I call on Minister Collins and the department to redouble their efforts to restore the trade in Australian frozen deer velvet with China. Our reputation as a reliable exporter of fit-for-purpose deer velvet is at stake.