Corinne Mulholland (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this matter of public importance moved by Senator Canavan. As a senator for Queensland, I am proud to speak about our mighty beef industry. My home state of Queensland has the largest beef sector of any state by some distance, accounting for about half of the national cattle herd. Biosecurity matters to all of us. The whole world knows just how good Australian beef is. The beef sector supports businesses and good jobs right across our region and throughout the entire supply chain—like JBS, located near Rockhampton, which Senator Chisholm and I recently visited. That's why it is so important that the government makes decisions on this sector based on facts.

Allow me to share some of those facts with the chamber this evening. Fact No. 1: beef from the United States has been able to be imported into Australia since 2019, when the coalition was last in government and, might I add, when the mover of this MPI was a cabinet minister. Fact No. 2: the US beef imports review has undergone a rigorous, decade-long, science and risk based assessment, including when those opposite were in government—'when those opposite were in government'; let that sink in a bit. Fact No. 3: the decision by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry was taken by the department's independent scientists, in the same way that all other market requests are made. There's nothing new here. Fact No. 4: the coalition left Australia's biosecurity system in an unfunded mess when they were last in government. Under this government, Aussie beef has had back-to-back record-breaking export years. Last year, our beef exports were worth $14 billion. Supported by reinstated and improved market access, exports have increased by 55 per cent since we came to government, backed in by our work to reinstate and reimprove market access, including in the US and China. As the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Prime Minister have both said, we will never ever compromise on biosecurity.

Those are the facts. But does anyone think those opposite have bothered to learn them? Well, the shadow minister for trade, investment and tourism was asked on the ABC's Afternoon Briefing whether he had read the department's report on the US beef review. Patricia Karvelas asked the shadow minister:

They've published their report. Have you read it?

And the shadow minister said:

There was a draft report, yes. There was a draft report that they released a little while ago.

Patricia Karvelas said:

Today we have access to that—

referring to the final report—

I've looked through it. Have you?

To which the shadow minister responded:

I haven't read it; no.

The coalition have been calling for a review into a report that they have not even bothered to read. Let that one sink in for a bit.

Perhaps they would listen to some prominent voices in the beef sector, which this government has been engaged with throughout this process. Take the voice of Will Evans, the Chief Executive Officer of Cattle Australia. He said, 'The reality is that science has been used to make a technical assessment and that's where we are today.' Or take the voice of Michael Crowley, the Managing Director at Meat and Livestock Australia, who said:

Australia maintains one of the strictest biosecurity regimes in the world to protect our livestock industries, environment, and food safety

…   …   …

The finalised federal government health certification and import permit conditions reflect stringent safeguards to prevent the introduction of exotic diseases and uphold the integrity of Australia's biosecurity system.

This really says it all about those opposite. They are all about the politics and not about the facts. This government will continue to listen to the science, invest in biosecurity and back our Aussie farmers.