Labor loses regional support over live export farce, Crook

Author: Tony Crook
Published on: 07-July-2011

Federal Member for O’Connor Tony Crook MP has called the Labor Government’s response to the live export issue “needless” and said it will cost them dearly in regional Australia.

“Regional Australians are very disappointed in the way this issue has been handled, and they have every right to be,” Mr Crook said.

Mr Crook said while he welcomed the resumption of the live cattle trade, he said much of the turmoil cattle producers have been put through in recent weeks could have been avoided.

“This issue could have been resolved weeks ago if the Labor Government had acted on this as a priority,” Mr Crook said.

“If the Government had a plan to re-open live exports in such a short time frame, they should have communicated this to our producers to allow them to plan accordingly.

“This announcement by the Minister for Agriculture, Senator Joe Ludwig, was hardly a breakthrough announcement. He didn’t offer anything to the table that could not have been offered weeks ago.”

Mr Crook said animal welfare must be paramount in the new live export arrangements.

“The Federal Government and industry must work together to ensure that the horrific animal treatment the nation saw on Four Corners last month is never repeated.

Mr Crook said he hoped to see Meat and Livestock Australia take a more active role on the ground in Indonesia.

“MLA has certainly been put on notice by producers and the Federal Government over the past month, and they need to seriously look at the role they can play in supporting our producers going forward.”

Mr Crook said he was confident producers would adapt their export procedures according to the new parameters set out by the Federal Government.

“Our cattle producers want to see the industry up and running again, and if that involves additional conditions I am sure they will implement them.”

Mr Crook said the Labor Government needed to show more respect to regional Australia.

“The live export farce was the latest example of the Labor Government failing to give regional Australia the attention it deserves.

“Thirty-five per cent of the population lives in regional Australia, contributing 67 per cent of Australia’s export revenue, and they are fed up with being ignored by the Labor Government.”

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