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INDEPENDENT candidate for New England Tony Windsor has weighed in to criticism surrounding comments made by Barnaby Joyce drawing a link between the ban on live exports and an increase in asylum seekers arriving on boats in Australia.
The member for New England and Deputy Prime Minister made the comments during a political debate in Goulburn on Thursday night, in which Mr Joyce suggested there was a link between the temporary ban on live exports and an influx of asylum seekers in 2011.
"Might I remind you that 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 stated.
In Tamworth on Thursday morning, Mr Windsor called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to remove Mr Joyce from making comment on international affairs, amid concerns that the Indonesian government could retaliate by decreasing current live export quotas.
He said Mr Joyce's comments were not in line with the motion put forward by The Nationals' John Cobb who said the party had agreed with the ban of live exports at the time.
"This is an example of short term, opportunistic politics, trying to relate three separate issues from Indonesia, the diplomatic areas there and the live export ban which was temporary for a month along with the minority parliament, "Mr Windsor said.
"What Mr Joyce did last night was prove that he is unfit to be in a leader's debate, he's unfit to be a leader and he has insulted Indonesia, our nearest neighbour.
"(There are) 220 million people and we need those people for the future, they are going to be very important, not only in terms of the live cattle trade but in terms of trade in total.
"To insult them again and to suggest that they retaliated to Minister Ludwig's suspension of the live export trade at that particular time is an absolute insult and part of an opportunistic process that this man goes through."
Mr Windsor said he had faith that Prime Minister Turnbull could resolve the issue diplomatically but was concerned that the damage had already been done.
"What Mr Joyce said is an insult to Indonesia, to allege they would put people on the water relation to something an Australian minister put in place.
"Hopefully Prime Minister Turnbull can clean up the mess. If Indonesia is offended by this they may well retaliate, not by boats but it will be in a reduction in the live export quotas to send a message to Australian that they won't be trivialised.
"This is desperate politics about what is going on in this seat and what is going on in the nation, it is not what a diplomatic minister and a Deputy Prime Minister would be saying about relations with our nearest neighbour
"These people won't keep taking insults from us, we need a government that's stable and can deal with Indonesia on a diplomatic level. Malcolm Turnbull can do that but I think the first thing he needs to do is say to his deputy, we don't need you in international affairs, go back and do some work in your electorate and leave the real work in terms of the nation to us."
A spokesperson for Mr Joyce was not immediately available for comment.
Joyce downplays comments linking export halt with boats
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has sought to clarify comments he made which appeared to suggest that Indonesia unleashed asylum seekers in boats on Australia as punishment for Labor's 2011 suspension of the live cattle trade.
In a regional leaders' debate on Wednesday night, the Nationals leader said "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".
When debate host Chris Uhlmann questioned the suggestion that the Indonesian government was responsible for the rise in arrivals, Mr Joyce said it was "absolutely the case we created extreme bad will" with the decision.
But Mr Joyce downplayed the remarks - rejected as "shocking" by former Indonesian former minister Dr Marty Natalegawa - on Thursday morning.
Mr Joyce is due to appear alongside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for a campaign announcement in Rockhampton later on Thursday.
"What I was saying is there's a direct correlation between shutting down the live cattle trade and - before that, I must admit there was about 14,000 people coming to Australia - but 40,000 turned up after that and obviously it didn't help our capacity in how we negotiate with a country when we've just shut down one of their prime mechanisms of getting protein into their diet," the Nationals leader told Seven's Sunrise program.
"I'm not saying that this caused the Indonesians to start sending people across. I never suggested that.
"What I did suggest was it made it difficult...in how we negotiate with Indonesia and after that point we needed all the reasons in the world to negotiate with them because 40,000 people made their own arrangements and just arrived here by boat."
Former prime minister Julia Gillard's decision to temporarily shut down the live cattle trade in 2011 after an animal abuse investigation by ABC's Four Corners was highly controversial. It affected industry in northern Australia and the Coalition has consistently said it undermined bilateral relations between Australia and Indonesia.
Dr Natalegawa responded strongly to Mr Joyce's "patently false" remarks, telling Fairfax Media they represent "at best" an over-analysis of the subject.
"Worse still, it is shocking to suggest that the Indonesian government would risk the safety and lives of innocent asylum seekers in making the treacherous journey to Australia simply to make a point," he said.
- Fergus Hunter