Tuesday, June 2, 2020
The Federal Court has ruled the 2011 live export ban, which was wholly supported by Labor Agriculture Minister Mark Furner when he as a Senator, was unlawful.
The class action also found then Labor Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig’s conduct amounted to misfeasance.
Justice Rares described the Federal Labor Government’s ban order that Mr Furner backed as “invalid”, “capricious” and “unreasonable” while ordering damages to be paid to impacted farmers.
Liberal National Party Shadow Minister for Agriculture Tony Perrett said it was unacceptable that the Minister charged with looking after Queensland farmers had supported the disastrous 2011 live export ban.
“Queensland farmers will never forget how Labor Minister Furner sat in the Senate and voted to destroy the livelihoods of thousands of farmers,” Mr Perrett said.
“Labor’s live export ban cost jobs, destroyed lives and devastated communities.
“It was not only unethical, but completely illegal – and Labor’s Mark Furner was complicit.
“Mark Furner is clearly no friend of the farmer and his position as the Agriculture Minister of this state in untenable.
“Minister Furner must apologise to farmers and then resign over his role in the one of the darkest chapters in the Queensland cattle industry.
“It’s well known Federal Labor went into the last election promising to ban live sheep exports and at the 2018 Queensland Labor Party Conference a motion was put to transition away from all live exports by 2030.
“Queensland farmers have zero faith in Labor when it comes to supporting the all-important live export industry.
“The Palaszczuk Labor Government is anti-farmer, anti-regions and cannot be trusted.
“Only the Liberal National Party supports Queensland’s world class job-creating livestock export industry.”
