Labor must commit to 12 month extension on eID

The Andrews Labor Government’s late announcement on Friday of a price for electronic identification (eID) tags for sheep and goats next year is long overdue, says Shadow Minister for Agriculture Peter Walsh.

Jaala Pulford promised to give primary producers certainty ‘in the first half’ of 2017, only to force them to wait until nearly Christmas.

Friday’s announcement fails to recognise serious concerns saleyard operators and the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association (ALPA) have with Labor’s slow progress on developing the software and physical infrastructure needed to read and upload data to the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS).

The Agriculture Minister must stop ignoring saleyard operators’ concerns and grant them a 12 month extension past the March 2018 deadline to rollout eID.

Jaala Pulford is burying her head in the sand and assuming eID will implement itself, but it’s clear that’s not the case.

Victoria’s biosecurity is too important for a half-baked Labor rush job.

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