Motion (by Senator O'Brien) put:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) following persistent demands for action by the Opposition, the Government finally, and reluctantly, launched an inquiry into the impact of pig meat imports on the Australian pork industry, including an investigation of action under the safeguard provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO),

(ii) the Productivity Commission has now completed that inquiry,

(iii) the commission found that the Australian pork industry has suffered and is suffering serious injury as a result of prices to producers being consistently, and appreciably, below average production costs during 1998,

(iv) the commission found that serious injury during 1998 has been caused primarily by imports,

(v) the commission report states that safeguard measures can be justified under the WTO rules,

(vi) the commission's findings contradict claims by both the former Minister for Primary Industries and Energy (Mr Anderson) and the Minister for Trade (Mr Fischer) that pig meat imports were not the primary cause of the industry's problems, and

(vii) the Productivity Commission's report took 140 days to prepare, was based upon wide-ranging evidence from all interested parties and included a number of public hearings; and

(b) urges the Government to consider the timely implementation of measures that provide an effective short-term remedy for the serious injury that the Australian pork industry has suffered as a result of imports and enhance the measures already in place to facilitate industry adjustment.