As a senator proudly ensconced in Rockhampton, the nation’s beef capital, this is an extremely important issue to talk about. If there were to be an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease—let’s very much hope that does not happen—there probably would not be a town in Australian more affected than my home town of Rockhampton.
I must say, talking to the graziers in the Fitzroy Basin, there is a lot of concern that this government does not have the proper focus on this issue. The graziers are very concerned about the kneejerk and haphazard response over the past few weeks, where, at one point, foot mats were ineffective and not needed and then, just days later, they were going to be rolled out everywhere. And we’re still waiting for them.
It’s not just those anecdotes or my political points here that are confirming this lack of confidence; it’s the market itself. The market has no confidence in this minister, no confidence in this new government. Indeed, in the first week that the Bali outbreak was exposed, the first week of July, the price under the eastern states young cattle indicator—that’s basically a benchmark for cattle prices across Australia—sat at $11.18 per kilogram, a very good price. That’s a very, very good price, mind you. But, in just the two weeks since then, it is now down below $9, at $8.92 a kilogram, a 20 per cent drop in two weeks, confirming a vote of no confidence in this minister. And it’s not the drop to $8.92—that’s still a very good price, a fantastic price; all cattle producers pretty much will be making money at $8.92—but it’s that that price is on a vertical drop right now, and we need that to be halted. We need to bend that curve back so we don’t get prices back down to the levels we saw 10 years or so ago during the drought and, dare I say, the live export ban.
For that, we need the government to wake up and deliver on their promises and show the Australian people that they have got this and they have got their eyes focused on this. The Prime Minister hasn’t been across this. He’s been overseas and has not been across domestic issues. He’s refused calls for him to take charge of this issue, given the consequences for this country, and regional areas in particular that would be hurt, and he is not helping out.
Today’s contribution from Minister Watt does not help this lack of confidence. It does not help at all, unfortunately. Hopefully, it will be better tomorrow. It was his first day today. I suppose we all get given a bit of slack on our first day. But he couldn’t even answer basic questions on numbers put by my colleague Senator McKenzie, who asked how many passengers have come through from Indonesia the last few weeks. You’d think, if you were concerned and focused on this issue, you’d have that number off the top of your head. I remember colleagues on the other side being very critical of ministers who did not have significant numbers off the top of their head. He didn’t know that. He took it on notice. It was one of many questions he took on notice. Later on in question time he gave the ‘not my job’ excuse. ‘It’s not my job. I don’t have these answers.’ So ‘Not My Job’ Murray is not across his brief and he’s not giving confidence to the Australian cattle industry and to the Australian people that the government are responding appropriately to this issue.
I do appreciate the briefing was put on earlier today by Minister Watt and the government. There was a lot of good information there. The takeaway I had, though—what I’m concerned about—is that this minister and this government are putting too much faith in the advice they’re given and not providing appropriate scrutiny of that. Again, it’s their first day. It’s Murray’s first go here. Sorry, it’s Senator Watt’s first go as a minister, and I don’t think you understand that your job is not just to enact the advice you’re given by your departments and agencies. They’re well meaning, they’re good people, but they often have to protect their own advice and their own history. They’re not going to necessarily bring you a 100 per cent account of what’s going on on the ground.
What I hear quite often from the government right now is ‘We’re told that there are mats everywhere; we’re told that everybody’s being checked.’ At the briefing today, you were saying, ‘I’m told a hundred per cent of people are fine.’ Yet we continue to get stories from actual people who come in from Indonesia, coming in from overseas, that there’s nothing at the airports. There’s nothing there. Now, something’s wrong. Either these people contacting us are lying or maybe—just maybe—the advice that’s being pushed up through the Public Service is not quite a hundred per cent accurate and truth-tested about what’s going on on the ground.
So one thing I would hope, after this searing experience for new Minister Watt, is that he goes away and tries to ground-check exactly what is going on in airports. This is so, so serious for our country. We cannot just sit back and take every piece of advice we get. We have to have scrutiny. We have to hold them to account here in this place. That is our job.
