Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins absent from Canberra farm rally after missing WA Cabinet roadshow

Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins was a no-show at a major farming rally in Canberra on Tuesday. It comes after Ms Collins — who is overseeing Labor’s shutdown of the live sheep trade in mid-2028 — was notably absent from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s WA Cabinet roadshow last week. Countryman has yet to secure an interview with the Tasmanian MP despite numerous requests since she took over the agriculture portfolio from Senator Murray Watt in late July. The latest request, made earlier this week, went unanswered. But in a written statement to The West Australian on Monday, Ms Collins again defended Labor’s policy to ban an almost exclusively WA-based industry. “The Government took this policy to the 2022 election, and we have gone about implementing it in a consultative manner to ensure certainty for the sector,” she said. “The Government is committed to the sheep industry in Australia, and we remain confident that there is a strong future for the sheep industry and those associated with the sector.” Ms Collins was on leave with her family — which Countryman understands was booked prior to the July 28 Cabinet reshuffle that shifted her into the agriculture portfolio — during last week’s Cabinet roadshow. She plans to meet with WA farmers when she travels to the State later this year. But last week, it was revealed that in its first briefings to its new minister, the Federal Agriculture department advised Ms Collins to tell farmers the export ban was “settled” and would not be “revisited”. WA farmers fear the ban, which Labor rammed through Federal Parliament in July, will cost thousands of jobs and devastate the regional communities reliant on the live sheep trade. Tuesday’s protest — spearheaded by the WA-based Keep the Sheep campaign — was the first rally endorsed by the National Farmers’ Federation since 1985. Mr Albanese did not attend the rally but was scheduled to meet with NFF leaders on Tuesday. Ms Collins was also set to meet with NFF and other industry representatives this week.