5 years ago
MINISTER ANXIOUS TO RELEASE MOSS REVIEW
THE HON JOEL FITZGIBBON MP
Senate Estimates today confirmed the Moss Review into the culture of the live animal export regulator has been delivered to Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud, but he is choosing not to release it.
Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, Daryl Quinlivan said “I know the Minister has been anxious to release it.”
Minister Littleproud has had the Moss Review report since 27 September, well after the promised date.
Since then the Department has provided the Minister with advice based on the recommendations from the review. We are told there are costs associated with the adoption of the recommendations.
Minister David Littleproud must explain exactly what is preventing him from making the report’s important findings public.
Especially since he indicated last week at the National Farmers’ Federation National Congress the review would prompt a ‘reset’ for live animal exports.
The delay in the review’s release creates further confusion and uncertainty in the industry and is a reflection of the overall chaos and dysfunction of the Morrison Government.
Senator Richard Colbeck was also unable to give a timeframe on when the review would be released.
It’s crystal clear there is nothing stopping them from doing it today. The fact is the Morrison Government cannot be trusted to do the right thing, everything they do is motivated by their own internal machinations.
Given former Agriculture Minister and Nationals leader hopeful Barnaby Joyce is lurking in the shadows, we suspect Minister Littleproud is under pressure to impede significant changes to the Department’s regulation of the live export trade.
In the meantime, export licenses continue to be granted for live sheep export voyages, hundreds of thousands of sheep are stranded in the supply chain and struggling farmers are being kept in the dark. The Morrison Government has not offered affected farmers any assistance.
The release of the review must build and maintain public confidence in the agriculture sector’s practices to ensure sustainable profitability.
The Government must release the Moss Review report today.