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

I thank Senator Storer for his question. No, I don't agree with the member for Farrer. I don't agree that we make one part of the economy stronger by hurting another part. On this side of the chamber we want to support all Australian industries to become better and stronger and to provide more jobs and opportunities for Australians. That includes the processed sector, which is very important for Australia in the export of lamb, beef and other products. We can grow those sectors as well as have a sustainable and well-regulated live export trade.

The government supports a sustainable live export industry that is well regulated and does make sure that those who do the wrong thing are properly penalised and that we improve standards in the sector. That is why, as soon as this most recent incident was revealed on 60 Minutes, the government immediately commissioned a review from Dr McCarthy. That review made 23 recommendations and was done with much haste. We accepted all of those recommendations. We have already implemented many of them, including putting observers on every ship leaving Australia with live exports and reducing stocking rates on those ships, which has provided sheep a 39 per cent increase in the space they have available on boats. We have also reduced the threshold for reporting incidents from a two per cent mortality level to a one per cent mortality level. The government is also seeking to implement the recommendations around the heat stress risk assessment model, which we are consulting on at the moment.

All of these reports and the government responses have been made public. I give credit to the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, David Littleproud, who has made sure that we properly respond to those who have not upheld the high standards we expect in this industry while still supporting the thousands of jobs and farmers who rely on this industry for their livelihoods and for their families to survive.