Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Macdonald would know that part of the white paper on developing northern Australia is the reinvigorated beef roads program. We've put $100 million into 18 beef roads right across northern Australia. This is specifically targeted at saving the beef industry money. About 30 per cent of the cost of a steak, which you might order at the pub tonight or later this week, comes from transport costs. The more we can bring those down, the better for beef producers and the better for consumers too. That is reflected in the comments of beef producers. Clancy Middleton, a cattle producer in North Queensland, says: 'As producers, we've been on our knees in North Queensland. The sealing of these roads is a cost saving on average of $3.13 a head, and we move about 1.5 million head of cattle across this region. That puts nearly $5 million back into the pockets of farmers and businesses in the north.' This is a very important program that we are building upon. It's great to see it delivering benefits for the agricultural industry in the north.