Tough legislation passed to guarantee tender beef for consumers

After two years of tough negotiations the NSW Parliament has passed a bill to ensure a clear beef labelling system for consumers.
It is now up to the industry to write the new descriptors for the voluntary system where meat quality must accord with the agreed labelling language.
Retailers who abuse the system will face huge fines.
Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay who introduced and guided the legislation through the lower house claimed victory last week when it passed with unanimous support in the Upper House.
There was only one minor amendment to change the name of the Bill to ‘Truth in Labelling’, approved when it moved back to the lower house, but no alteration to its content.
“This is a victory for consumers, producers and for the industry,” Mr Torbay said. “It’s been a long time coming and has taken hundreds of meetings and some very robust discussion to get to this point.
Attempts were made by the Coalition in the Upper House to amend parts of the legislation but were defeated on the floor. Mr Torbay said that overall the Coalition had taken a constructive approach describing the Bill as “well intentioned” and declaring its support “as would any responsible person".
Mr Torbay commended Shooters Party MP Robert Brown for successfully presenting the Bill to the Legislative Council and Primary Industries Minister Tony Kelly and former Primary Industries Minister Ian McDonald for their strong support during the debate. He also thanked the Greens and Fred Nile for backing the Bill.
“I’d also like to thank the thousands of consumers and producers who contacted me during this long process to give their support and encouragement for this legislation,” he said. “It is a victory for people power over vested interests and should help the beef industry to climb out of its slump.
“When consumers find consistent quality through a reliable labeling system they are expected to put beef more often on their shopping lists.”
The MP said many people in the industry and their supporters had shown strong leadership in pursuing the legislative changes despite strong resistance from some operators who wanted to continue dumping ambiguously labelled old beef on the domestic market.