Emission law could kill Australia's beef industry

The Australian beef industry will be destroyed if the emissions trading scheme legislation passes in the Senate, according to one of the country's largest landholders.

North-West Queensland grazier Zander McDonald says the current scheme would cause huge job losses and that the government must rule out any plan that affects agriculture.

If the scheme goes through in its current format, the agriculture industry is looking at a possible loss of revenue of US$11 billion by 2030, and beef production declines of about 25 percent, he said.

That would pretty much wipe out Australia's beef industry, McDonald concluded.