Stirling Griff (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator McKenzie, representing the Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia. In the first week of November, state and federal agriculture ministers met and considered the recommendations of the pet food working group. This meeting came a staggering four years after dozens of dogs started dying after consuming a brand of dry kibble and exactly three years after the Senate handed down the report Regulatory approaches to ensure the safety of pet food. As usual, there was no outcome from the November meeting. Apparently ministers are now going to wait on a cost-benefit analysis of some kind. Minister, why is the federal government and its state and territory counterparts not acting with greater urgency, instead acting like an errant new puppy by chewing up the paperwork, dropping the ball and running away from taking urgent action?