LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY —
LAMB
452. Hon
COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
I refer to the decision made by the
federal Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources to change the definition
of Australian ''lamb'' to match New Zealand's definition,
allowing an animal to still be classified as a lamb if it has two or fewer
incisor teeth.
(1) What process
is the state government taking to implement the new federal definition at a state
level?
(2) Will the
changes made by the state government align directly with the definition as
detailed by the federal Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources?
(3) Will the minister commit to
implementing these changes by the 1 July 2019 deadline?
(4) If no to (3),
when will these changes be implemented and what will the consequences be for
not reaching the 1 July 2019 deadline?
Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN
replied:
I thank the member for the question.
(1)–(4) This
has been an issue of some frustration to me because I have actually signed off
on these amendments four times dating back to August last year. The big delay
has been going through the regulatory impact process, even though it is a form
of deregulation. Anyhow, that has been the process and we will have regulations
drafted. There will be amendments to the Western Australian Meat Industry
Authority Amendment Regulations so that those regulations line up with the new
national definition. We have spoken to all the relevant sheep industry
interests.
The new definition of lamb will be a ''young
sheep under 12 months of age or which does not have any permanent incisor teeth
in wear''. The words ''in wear'' is the critical
difference. I have made it very clear that we want these regulations to be
implemented and gazetted by 1 July 2019.