Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has suggested the Indonesian government sent boatloads of refugees to Australia in retaliation for a ban on the live export of cattle.
Mr Joyce, who is also the federal Agriculture Minister, made the suggestion during the ABC-hosted Regional Leaders Debate in Goulburn with Greens leader Richard Di Natale and Opposition agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon.
He made the comments in response to a question about whether a Labor government would ban live exports as it did in 2011 after maltreatment of cattle in receiving countries like Indonesia was revealed.
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"What we now see is the Greens want to close it down again so that will basically send [cattle farmers] back into destitution again," he said.
"Now the office of animal welfare and the Labor Party is announcing they will have further caveats on to the live animal industry and crab walking towards closing it down again.
"This was disastrous for us the first time. It will be just as disastrous the second time.
"Might I remind you when we closed down the live animal export industry, it was around about the same time that we started seeing a lot of people arriving in boats in Australia."
Mr Joyce's comments prompted an immediate response from mediator Chris Uhlmann who asked, "Do you realise you are suggesting the Indonesian Government then unleashed the boats in response?".
"I think it's absolutely the case that we created extreme bad will with Indonesia when we closed down the live animal export," Mr Joyce said.
"I suggest the Greens and Labor Party created immense bad will and [the number of refugees coming] was affected."
