Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

To answer the opposition's last question first, Queensland, New South Wales and all of the other states of course have an interest in the resumption of this trade, unlike those opposite. What is important, as I highlighted in my answer to the previous question, is that the significant impacts were in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. There are lesser impacts but still impacts in Queensland and other states as well, as those opposite would understand. What we as a government have been doing, unlike those opposite, is working through, firstly, how we can investigate the footage and do the work necessary to make sure we can get this trade up and running again on a sustainable, long-term footing. This industry is at risk if it cannot quickly and deftly move to ensure animal welfare outcomes, because it is an industry that has lost its social licence. Without a social licence, the community will not support the industry in its current form. The industry has not heard that message loudly or clearly enough to date— (Time expired)