Television interview with Minister Butler, Sunrise – 25 July 2025

MONIQUE WRIGHT, HOST: Queensland farmers are fuming at the lift of the Government’s ban on US beef with serious fears for the protection of our biosecurity. The Nationals are now demanding an independent review into the decision, questioning the report used by the agriculture department to support the backflip. For more, we’re joined now by Health Minister Mark Butler and Liberal Senator Jane Hume. Morning to you both.
 
Okay, Mark, we’ll start with you. Some farmers are saying their futures are being sacrificed here to give Anthony Albanese bargaining power with Donald Trump on tariffs. Is that what’s happened here?
 
MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: Not at all. This was a biosecurity decision made by the same officials who made the same decision in relation to US cattle under the former government. Was not a trade decision. This process has been going on for some years now but over the last six or nine months, as I understand it, the Americans introduced new traceability arrangements to ensure that we know where the cattle that are involved here, potentially Mexico, Canadian cattle that then are moved to America for processing, where exactly they've come from. Now, the American systems were assessed by our independent officials over the last several months and found to be up to scratch, up to the sort of arrangements that we have with our strict biosecurity laws.
 
WRIGHT: OK. So nothing in the timing here?
 
BUTLER: No, it's nothing in the timing. It reflects a change in American practice over the last six or nine months that's been assessed independently by our officials. Frankly, I'm surprised that the same officials who've been serving governments of both political persuasions, very high-grade biosecurity officials, are being questioned by the National Party in this way.
 
WRIGHT: OK. Jane, we've got some vision of Barnaby Joyce, who was on TV yesterday with a pretty expressive take on the situation yesterday. But in all seriousness, picking up on what Mark's just said then, the Nationals are calling for a review. Does that mean that we shouldn't trust our Agriculture Department?
 
JANE HUME, SENATOR: Mon, I won't be quite as colourful as Barnaby with my expressions today, but I will say there is no second chance when it comes to protecting Australia's livestock from biosecurity threats. And even if the threat is only, you know, if it's 99.9 per cent safe, that means that there is a one in 1,000 chance that it isn't safe. It's not unreasonable to ask what it is that's changed and to understand what the decision has been based upon to see those documents. I don't think that's unreasonable, particularly considering the timing, because what is it that Australia is gaining out of this decision? Is it because we want to secure that tariff exemption with Donald Trump? And if that's the case, well, be explicit about it, because otherwise there's really nothing in this for Australia. It's been now 262 days since Donald Trump's been in office. Anthony Albanese has failed to secure a meeting with him. So if it is to secure those tariff exemptions, okay, but be straight about it. And let's be explicit and transparent about how this decision was made.
 
WRIGHT: Yeah, the US Administration is claiming this as a victory. Unfortunately, we're out of time. But thank you very much, Mark and Jane.