Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, I do not know where you were on Monday a fortnight ago, but I was at estimates and did not get an opportunity to watch the live footage of the Four Corners program on the subject of the live animal trade. But certainly a few nights on I watched it on-stream and it really shocked me. It shocked me to see the horror of this treatment of our animals in Indonesia. I am sure none of us in this chamber would want to sit idly by and allow that sort of conduct to continue.

I will never forget the images. One part of the footage showed an Indonesian man belting a cow with chains. I do not know what the purpose behind that was, but that sort of behaviour really troubled me. It has been suggested here today that we have acted on this issue as a result of an email campaign or that there were delayed responses from the government. I do not think that is the case. When you look at the examples and the feedback from the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry today during question time you see that is not the case. The suspension of the live-animal trade will be in place until appropriate safeguards can be established. The minister said that after the announcement last week. I really challenge anyone to go back and have a look at the footage again of the animal mistreatment. I think anyone will attest that it is totally unacceptable.

That is why it is clear that producers and the community have been let down by the industry. Under the current system, it is not possible to guarantee that cattle will not be exposed to the conditions that we have seen in that footage. Cattle producers do not want to see cattle treated that way, nor does the community and this government. This suspension will allow the establishment of a transparent, verifiable system that will account for cattle from Australia right through the supply chain. That is a community standard. That is the standard that this government stands by and a standard that must be in the industry. The decision to suspend trade was not really an easy one to take and not one that one takes off the back of little evidence and information. But let us be clear on this: it is a suspension that the government will lift as soon as the industry can establish a better system. We made the decision to suspend trade to bring about better treatment for Australian livestock into the future, and that remains our primary goal.

We do have a responsibility and, like many other countries, we have a respon­sibility to the rules of the World Trade Organisation. Australia has the right under the World Trade Organisation rules to take action to ensure that Australian cattle are treated in accordance with the international standards on animal welfare. The decision to suspend trade to Indonesia has been taken following evidence of the animals' mistreatment and advice from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. While action has been taken in response to evidence that has been provided to the Australian government detailing animal welfare abuses in Indonesia, the Australian government will appoint an independent person to review the live animal export chain for all Australia's livestock export destinations. We have a positive relationship with the Indonesian government. That has been demonstrated over the many years since we have been in government through our ability to make various changes not only to this particular area but also to other areas of concern in the Pacific. As a close partner of Indonesia, whose relationship with Australia is of such importance, we will be in a position to work through these changes with the Indonesian government.

The minister ordered a complete suspension of all livestock exports to Indonesia for the purpose of slaughter until the new safeguards are established for the trade. This suspension will be in place until the government and the industry establish sufficient safeguards to provide a verifiable and transparent supply-chain assurance up to and including the point of slaughter for every consignment that leaves Australia. The trade to Indonesia will only recommence when we are certain that the industry is able to comply with that supply-chain assurance. This decision was made following serious consideration of the advice and evidence that was presented to the government.

Reflecting once again, I think that if anybody has not had the opportunity to cite that footage from the Four Corners program, they should do so and see the reasons that we acted decisively on this area of concern to the public. There are numerous emails coming through to us expressing the concern in the community over what is happening to our livestock which is taken offshore, and no doubt that concern will continue until this matter is addressed.