Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) | Hansard source

As I rise, I want to foreshadow, on behalf of Senator McKenzie, her amendment on sheet 2695 to the motion for the second reading of the Export Control Amendment (Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea) Bill 2024. I want to address this ridiculous move by the Albanese government. Since the government came to power, we have seen endless examples, small and large, of how those on the other side have no understanding of Australia's pastoral history, no understanding of regional Australia and no understanding of its contribution to the standard of living we have in Australia today. If you recall, on his election the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, said that his desire was to unite Australia, that no-one would be left behind and that no-one would be held back. But, for many living outside our capital cities, that's exactly how we feel. That is an election promise that the Prime Minister has absolutely failed to keep, just like so many other promises.

In regional Australia we have seen infrastructure funds absolutely ripped away and we've seen the decimation of the ag visa scheme and the refusal—week on, week off; month on, month off; and almost year to year—to allow the parliament to scrutinise the impact and economic consequences of 28,000 kilometres of transmission lines, and that's not to mention the wind turbines, including the offshore wind turbines, and the race to renewables and its impact not only on regional Australia but also on your power bills. They have completely decided not to listen to regional Australia.

I remind everyone that, in 2011, it was the Labor government that decided to kill off the live cattle export industry virtually overnight without warning, causing untold havoc across much of northern Australia's cattle industry. Rightly, the Federal Court found that ban invalid. Yet today this Labor government is still refusing to settle the claim and pay out the industry, an industry that is still struggling with the trauma caused by that ban. Today it's the live sheep industry that's in the crosshairs, because this government has decided that that industry will be banned from May 2028.

The government suggested that because it's an industry in decline it can be easily replaced by onshore processing and frozen meat exports. They claim it's an industry that's historically cruel, with unacceptable deaths, but they're completely ignoring the significant animal welfare standards that we put in place after the dreadful events of 2017 and 2018. They also say, 'But we promised it at the last election.' Well, this is clearly one of the only election commitments that this government is going to keep. Shall we talk about the election commitment that they would not tax anyone's superannuation? That was a commitment that Labor could not wait to break. How about their promise to lower inflation and ease the cost-of-living burden, or that wonderful election promise that Labor made on 97 separate occasions to reduce your power bills by $275 per year? We know that was a promise they couldn't keep.

They are promises worth breaking, according to this government. But somehow listening to the concerns of an industry, of regional communities and of their own Labor government in Western Australia, and admitting that on this election commitment you actually got it wrong is clearly not in Labor's DNA. Would it have been had it not been for the unexpected Dunkley by-election, which tied their hands? We've seen all over socials that the real reason for this industry being shut down is not just that it was a federal election commitment but that it was a promise in return for preferences from the Animal Justice Party to buy their votes. Maybe I'm being a little facetious. Maybe it is, as Senator Shoebridge has claimed tonight, because of the hard work of the Greens that we are seeing the death of a whole industry in Western Australia.

It is suggested that the cessation of the live sheep export trade will mean onshore processing jobs for Australians. I think the opposite is the more likely scenario, because, while the live export market only represents a very small portion of the total market, what it also represents is flexibility and choice for our sheep producers. The market for live export of culled sheep provides an economic floor for producers who would otherwise lose that source of on-farm income. There is very little demand in Australia for mutton, although may I recommend it to anyone watching on at home because it is a very tasty meat. When seasonal conditions demand reduced numbers, the alternative offshore market is highly valued.

We've got to remember that Labor is saying that we'll just sell more boxed meat overseas—by some miracle—but that is not the case. We know—and we've seen it in the past—when our industry is closed, in the countries where, for cultural or religious reasons as well as for reasons of lacking proper infrastructure such as chilling facilities, fresh killed meat is in high demand and preferable, frozen and chilled meat will never entirely replace that live market. We know, when our industry is closed, these countries won't come knocking on our door for chilled or frozen boxed meat. No. They will seek live sheep and go knocking on the door of Brazil or Argentina or South Africa—countries that don't have the same stringent animal welfare requirements that we have from farm gate all the way to the abattoirs overseas. We have very strong animal welfare requirements. What we will see is the reverse of what the Greens are claiming this bill will result in. We will see lower animal welfare standards across the world. At the same time, we will see a negative impact on our industry.

Despite the minister promising through Senate estimates a Senate inquiry, we had the somewhat farcical, truncated House of Representatives inquiry which went for just over two weeks with only two public hearings. There was not enough time to go through the more than 1,300 submissions that were received—many coming from farmers and people directly impacted by what this cut will mean. RSM, a noted accountancy firm with over 2,000 farming clients in regional Western Australia, submitted to that inquiry:

Government has a responsibility to ensure that no Australian is worse off or left behind. However, should this policy be implemented, we believe this is what will occur for thousands of Australians in Western Australia.

We've also seen Xavier Martin, the president of NSW Farmers, join an industry walkout on the minister over this issue at a National Press Club function. Mr Martin said:

Live sheep exports by sea from Western Australia have a positive effect on the sheep industry, including markets in New South Wales and … phasing out exports of live sheep by sea will have negative flow-on impacts to producers across Australia …

As I live on a merino and commercial sheep property, I share from the east coast the concerns of what the impact of shutting down live sheep export from Western Australia will have. Marleys Transport, located in the Hope Valley in Western Australia, transports animal feed for live export ships and said that the end of the industry will mean a loss of approximately $700,000 per year. Another truckie, Ben Sutherland, said just today on Sky News that he will lose about 30 per cent of his bottom line. He made the point that it doesn't just hit him. It hits his family. It hits his footy club. It hits the IGA. It hits the whole community.

But we know Labor don't care about regional communities, because we've seen it. The very same arguments have been made time and time again, with the cuts to water through the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and through this government's rush to buybacks, because this government takes a simplistic approach to many issues that face regional Australia. Rather than actually doing the hard work of finding out what regional Australia needs and what it can do to support industry to build economic viability in the regions, this government says, 'Just cut it. Just cut the water. Just cut live sheep export.'

They hide behind outdated data and anecdotes, yet they don't apply the same concern to the data and anecdotes about windmills and the damage they have on native birds or ocean wind factories and what damage they may have on migrating whale species. They remain silent on the data that shows hundreds of hectares of native land being cleared for windmills, irrespective of whether it's koala habitat or whether there will be other loss of biodiversity. They don't have the same reliance on that data. It is no secret that, after this, their next target will be live beef export and the many other animal husbandry industries across regional Australia, because that's the dirty deal that they've done in siding more with the Animal Justice Party and the Greens than with the people in regional Australia.

The dissenting report to the House of Representatives inquiry set out very clearly the importance of this industry and called the legislation 'an unwarranted intervention by a poorly informed government'. It highlighted the comprehensive animal welfare standards. Despite this, this government continues to insult sheep producers and the whole industry by claiming they are cruel. I've not met a sheep farmer who lives up to that terminology. This government cannot help kicking regional and rural Australia. We, as do most thinking Australians, maintain that good agricultural policy must be driven by science, facts and solid evidence, not by extreme activist agendas. We must see this legislation defeated.