Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, I would say: absolutely, the Australian government does not do as you have alleged. The Australian government is absolutely committed to upholding the absolutely very high standards of animal welfare while supporting a sustainable live export trade. It is very important that we get the balance right on animal welfare—an absolute priority—and jobs for Australians, particularly rural and regional jobs for rural and regional Australia and the economies and the regional communities that rely upon them.

We saw the absolute disaster that was created when we banned, as a knee-jerk reaction, the live export from northern Australia, and to watch those hundreds of thousands of cattle die of starvation because an industry got stopped in its tracks was probably far crueller than anything that you could ever imagine, Senator Faruqi. So maybe think about what you're saying, because right now we are absolutely committed to the highest level of animal welfare, and we will continue to be so, whilst providing jobs.