LNP banks on Neal appeal to win Leichhardt, beefs with Albo

Donald Trump’s high steaks move to hurt the Aussie beef sector has been skewered by a Far North political candidate, with supermarket prices for scotch fillets and mince expected to increase as a result of the tax.

LNP candidate for Leichhardt Jeremy Neal enjoys a beer at his campaign launch at the Great Barrier Reef Hotel in Cairns on Sunday morning.

Donald Trump’s high steaks move to hurt the Aussie beef sector has been skewered by a Far North political candidate, with supermarket prices for scotch fillets and mince expected to increase as a result of the tax.

In a move slammed by industry experts and consumers, the US president has imposed a 10 per cent tariff on the prime export, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing a raft of measures, including $50m in funding to find new export markets, in response.

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington, DC, last week. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

But the LNP’s Leichhardt hopeful, Jeremy Neal, seared Labor for failing to secure a better deal for Australian graziers, at his campaign launch on Sunday.

“We’ve got a Prime Minister who won’t even hop on the plane and go and visit Donald Trump to negotiate better tariffs,” Mr Neal told more than 150 party supporters.

“We’re happy to go on that plane over to America and make sure that our aluminium, beef and steel go all over the world. We need to stand up and fight.”

LNP campaign volunteer, Primrose Kern and Peter Fitzgibbon were one of around 150 guests at Jeremy Neal's campaign launch in Cairns on Sunday.

The paramedic-turned-political aspirant said the allies’ biff over beef could have been avoided if Australia had a better working relationship with Mr Trump.

“We’re a trading nation that needs reliable trading partners,” he said.

“Albo’s made one phone call. That’s the only way we can get a better deal. We’re a good citizen of the world and only Peter Dutton can deliver that deal.

“A good portion of us love our steak too.”

Australian meat and poultry is the biggest Australian export to the US. Last year we shipped US $4bn of meat across the Pacific. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Queensland Senator Susan McDonald disputed whether a drop in international demand for homegrown beef would lead to an increase in prices domestically but added that more needed to be done to support the industry.

“Any impact on those markets is concerning but I also feel confident that we have faced these challenges before with the shutdown of the Chinese markets,” Ms McDonald said.

“We’ve got good at being agile and responsive. The rest of the world is hungry for our beef. We do it to the best standards in the world.

“Our farmers aren’t subsidised and we will be fighting to make sure that markets remain open with less red tape.”

Matt Smith is the ALP’s candidate for Leichhardt. Picture: Brendan Radke

Mr Neal, who is running against Labor’s Matt Smith, said the candidate that could best deliver cost-of-living relief would determine who wins Leichhardt.

“Over the last three years (cost-of-living) has really reduced quality of life,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re living at the top of City View or you’re homeless on Lake St, everybody is hurting.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken out against the tariffs announced by US president Donald Trump last week. Picture: Jason Edwards / NewsWire

Last week, the Prime Minister argued the tariff undermined the two countries’ “free and fair trading relationship”.

“Our existing free trade agreement with the United States contains dispute resolution mechanisms,” Mr Albanese said. “We want to resolve this issue without resorting to using these.”

Both Leichhardt candidates spent much of Sunday door-knocking in Cairns.

Originally published as LNP banks on Neal appeal to win Leichhardt, beefs with Albo