Photo caption: Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton joined his Coalition colleagues for a briefing with the Keep the Sheep delegation in Parliament House last week.
Devastating live sheep export ban
Unfortunately, Labor’s reckless live sheep export ban passed the Senate last week, marking a very dark period for Australia’s sheep industry and agriculture in general.
I once again took the opportunity to speak out against the bill after it was legislated by the Senate.
This ban once again goes to show the contempt that Labor has for our farmers – Labor is willing to sell them out and shut down a successful, world-class trade based on ideology and politics. Anyone who claims this is about animal welfare clearly has no idea about the industry and the first-class standards Australia has implemented in recent years.
As someone who has worked with sheep most of my life, this hits particularly close to home. Most concerning is that it sets a dangerous precedent and means live cattle could be next.
What kind of government turns its back on its own farmers? Labor completely ignored the pleas from industry representatives including Keep the Sheep, Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council, Sheep Producers Australia, WA Shearing Industry Association, Wool Producers Australia and The Livestock Collective, who spent the day at Parliament House in a last-ditch attempt to persuade Senators to save live sheep exports.
I attended a briefing with the Keep the Sheep delegation which has vowed to continue to fight this ban by targeting all Labor seats in an attempt to change the Government at the next election. A future Coalition Government will reinstate the live sheep export trade and I am proud to stand with our sheep industry.
Councils in Canberra
I’d like to congratulate Lachlan Shire Council for receiving an Honourable Mention in the Road Safety category at the 2024 National Awards for Local Government last week, for its Condobolin Improved Freight Logistics and Visitor Information Centre project.
The project included work to improve the flood resilience of a nine-kilometre stretch of roadway adjacent to the Newell Highway, which is used as an alternate traffic route when the highway is closed by flooding. The project also involved the development of the Utes in the Paddock Tourism Precinct which includes the construction of a new visitor information centre, a heavy vehicle rest area and 24-hour accessible toilets and showers to assist people driving long distances to manage driver fatigue.
This project was jointly funded by the former Coalition Government and I attended the opening in December last year, so I’m thrilled to see it recognised on a national stage.
The awards were part of the Australian Council of Local Government forum which coincided with the National General Assembly of the Australian Local Government Association that saw councils from across the country converge on Canberra.
It was a pleasure to catch up with a number of councils from the Parkes electorate during their time in Canberra last week to discuss various challenges and issues.
Of particular note was the successful motion submitted by Moree Plains Shire Council calling for the completion of the Inland Rail project from Brisbane to Melbourne. I commend Moree Mayor Mark Johnson for speaking out about this and highlighting the importance of completing this critical project for our agricultural communities and Australia more broadly.
Keeping supermarkets in check
Last week the Coalition announced we would stand up for Australian small businesses, farmers and consumers by delivering stronger penalties for anti-competitive behaviour in the supermarket and hardware sectors.
Families deserve to be able to afford fresh food, and farmers and suppliers deserve fair prices, without supermarket interference or price-gouging.
That’s why a future Coalition Government will introduce sector-specific divestiture powers as a last resort to manage supermarket behaviour and address supermarket price-gouging. Divestiture powers will address serious allegations of land banking, anti-competitive discounting, and unfairly passing costs onto suppliers.
We will also strengthen the Food and Grocery Code by making it mandatory for supermarkets with annual turnover of more than $5 billion, in addition to increasing penalties for breaches of the code and creating a Supermarket Commissioner who will act as an impartial confidential avenue for farmers and suppliers.
This policy aligns with our major trading partners, ensuing Australians get a fairer go. It’s part of our plan to get Australia’s economy back on track.
