Efforts to negotiate between Sussan Ley and her Coalition colleagues on the issue of live sheep exports are being conducted by the Farrer MP’s independent counterpart across the border, Cathy McGowan.
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Ms McGowan has not backed Ms Ley’s stance on live exports, but said she did agree with some of her points and the pair had been speaking this week.
“I’m absolutely supporting the government and I was really sad they withdrew the legislation last week because I think we’ve got to make those regulations much harder and stronger,” she said. “My job at the moment is negotiating between the both of them.
“There’s some really good things in Sussan’s bill and there’s some absolutely important things that the government are doing.
“My job is to make sure that animal health is at the forefront and sheep get treated well and make sure that industry does the right thing and follows the rules.”
Ms Ley has not ruled out crossing the floor on the issue, but Ms McGowan said she would wait for the outcome of negotiations before deciding if she will support the bill.
