Farmers are feeling “disgusted” after comments made by the Prime Minister at an agriculture awards dinner about banning the livestock trade.
Anthony Albanese made the quip while addressing 600 people at the black-tie AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award gala at Parliament House on Tuesday.
Mr Albanese recalled a meal he shared with the Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto hours before getting on stage at the prestigious event.
“‘We had dinner, beautiful Australian beef – not the live export, we made sure it was dead,” he said towards the end of his scripted speech.
The joke has not been well received by the farming community, as it grapples with the reality of a total ban on live exports by May 2028.
Earlier this year, Labor announced live sheep exports would be phased out over a four-year period.
WA Livestock and Rural Transporters president and Keep the Sheep spokesman Ben Sutherland said he felt betrayed and hurt by the off-the-cuff joke.
“I am disgusted to the core,” Mr Sutherland said.
“Labor throws rural communities into the wind and continually keeps laughing about it.
“It’s no joke, in my eyes it’s quite scary to have a government that doesn’t care about regional Australia.
“We feel betrayed. The Prime Minister is not listening to rural Australia, he is taking us for granted.
“He has got no concept of what he is doing to rural Australia.
“He is destroying industries and lives and livelihoods, with no real consequence or guilt of his own conscious.”
Nationals leader David Littleproud labelled the Prime Minister’s comments “completely out of touch”.
“Why the Prime Minister would choose the AgriFutures awards – a night celebrating our agriculture industry – to mock our industries is beyond me,” Mr Littleproud said.
“It’s shameless the Prime Minister can mock the phase out of the live sheep export trade and in the next breath, declare how important agriculture is.
“Labor is still unable to explain the science behind closing the industry because Labor’s phase out decision is based on ideology.”
But a government spokeswoman said Mr Albanese was only reinforcing the importance of the Australian beef industry with his comments at the gala.
“Exports of beef to Indonesia hit a record high in 2022-23,” the spokeswoman said.
“The Government fulfilled an election promise on the live sheep export ban and has offered an adjustment package.
‘We will continue to discuss this with the industry and the WA Government.”
Australia Livestock Exporters’ Council CEO Mark Harvey-Sutton said the joke was another insult to Keep the Sheep campaigners and farmers.
“For the Prime Minister to be making light of the demise of live exports at a rural industry dinner, mere weeks after passing the devastating live sheep ban, shows an astounding lack of judgement and complete disregard for rural Australia and the families that are hurting as a result of their government’s poor decisions,” Mr Harvey-Sutton said.
The comment comes as farmers are planning a rally against the live export ban outside Parliament House on September 10.
Mr Littleproud said the latest comments by the prime minister will prompt more farmers to show up to the rally.
“Farmers were already planning a rally outside Parliament House on September 10 to highlight the contempt they have been shown by Labor,” he said.
“The Prime Minister’s comments only reiterate how let down and betrayed our farmers feel and if anything, farmers will now be even more encouraged and energised to join the rally.
“The Nationals will be standing shoulder to shoulder with our farmers at the Parliament House Keep the Sheep rally, because we support our farmers and our live sheep export industry.”
Source Agencies
