By Dominic Giannini & Jeremy Cook
Nationals Leader David Littleproud has accused Independent MP Zali Steggall of “looking for attention” after the pair traded blows during a fiery question time in Federal Parliament on Tuesday.
Farmers and truck drivers had descended on Parliament House to protest a ban on live sheep exports with angry protesters stacking the public galleries during question time.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese noted the live sheep trade had been in decline and accounted for less than 0.1 per cent of Australia’s estimated agricultural production.
Dismayed farmers stood and spilled out of the chamber during the prime minister’s comments.
The walkout wasn’t without controversy, with independent MP Zali Steggall accosting “a gentleman in jeans, black t-shirt, bald (and) overweight” for flipping the finger on the way out.
“They flipped the bird—the finger—to the chamber and in doing so looked to the Leader of the Nationals for support,” Ms Steggall said.
A wall of noise erupted as opposition MPs screamed and shouted about the remark, with Ms Steggall then questioning whether Mr Littleproud was threatening her.
“Are you threatening me? Leader of the Nationals, are you threatening me?,” she remarked.
Mr Littleproud later told ABC News he did not know the man in the gallery and accused Ms Steggall of “looking for attention”.
“I think Zali Steggall is looking for attention and I think we should leave it at that,” the Maranoa MP said.
“Zali Steggall – who was sitting at the back corner of the parliament, cannot even see where I’m sitting – made an assertion I encouraged this gentleman to make an obscene gesture to the prime minister and that’s not something [I’ll] have my integrity questioned over,” he said.
“I don’t know this gentleman, I didn’t sign him in, the only person I signed in to Parliament today was Mia Davies, who’s our candidate in Bullwinkel. She was in the speakers’ gallery. These people were sitting in the public gallery.
“But they were people that had come in from outside protesting about what this government had done and they were very upset with the response they heard in question time from the prime minister.”
The fracas capped off an eventful day outside the nation’s parliament.
A sea of Akubras sprawled across the front lawns as cockies – some of whom drove from Western Australia to Canberra for the rally – called on Labor to walk away from the 2028 ban.
Kevin O’Brien, from Pingelly in Western Australia, said confidence in the industry had been smashed.
“It’s dropping off, I’m selling a lot of the flock,” he told AAP on Tuesday.
“It’s already cost me around $250,000 this year … that’s in straight costs because I couldn’t find a market for my sheep because of this ban.”
The flannelled congregation chanted “No farmers, no food” as they chided the government’s agriculture policies.
WA Live Exporters Association chair John Cunnington said the state’s flock had already decreased from 12 million and was expected to drop to eight million in 2025.
At least 10 million were needed in order for the industry to be self-sustaining, he said.
A record number of sheep were being trucked east as confidence in the industry crumbled.
Farmers were factoring in fewer lambs to offset the drop in demand.
“We’re seeing the decimation of the WA sheep flock and the viability. Once the fences go down, they never go back up,” Mr Cunnington told AAP.
“We’re not only going to see an end of the live export trade, we’re probably going to start seeing abattoirs closing in the west as well.”
Speaking at the rally, Nationals leader David Littleproud pledged to overturn the export ban as his first act as agriculture minister if elected to power.
He also promised to give agriculture “the right of way” over mining should there be conflict.
“There is a place for mining, there is a place for co-existence but we’ve got to make sure our food security is looked after,” he said.
Labor argued ending the live sheep trade was humane after distressing onboard deaths.
In a radio interview, Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said she understood the farmers’ concerns.
She met with the National Farmers Federation and Live Export Council to hear their views.
But Ms Collins stuck by the live sheep export ban and said more than $100 million had been set aside to assist impacted farmers.
The minister ruled out ending the live cattle trade.
Addressing the crowd, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said there were livelihoods at stake.
“I want every Australian to understand there is a human cost to this bad decision,” he said.
Sprawled across the grass as Mr Dutton delivered his speech, independent MP Bob Katter said he agreed with the sentiment.
