Liberal candidate for Blackwood-Stirling Wade DeCampo said he supported the calls for an independent inquiry into the red meat industry, following talks with the Red Meat Action Group and other beef farmers in the electorate of Blackwood-Stirling.

"There is a desperate need for transparency in the industry in Western Australia," he said.

"The Liberal Party has already commenced a Parliamentary Inquiry into this matter, but farmers need more confidence that the inquiry is completely independent.

"The beef industry in WA is at the cross roads of its very sustainability.

Eastern States producers are receiving 40-45pc more for the same product, however the retail price in the Eastern States is on average lower than Western Australia, something doesn’t add up.

"A fully independent inquiry would encompass paddock to plate and include, but not limited to, the production, wholesale, processing, distribution and retail of beef.

"I will endorse and will actively pursue with the industry a feasibility study into a “beef precinct” located in the South West of Western Australia; the beef precinct would involve co-locating sale yards, abattoirs and other beef related industries in one area.

"This would allow vertical integration of the industry allowing production efficiencies.

"The Carpenter Government has resided over the collapse in beef industry prices over the past eighteen months.

“The beef industry rightly deserves my support in trying to achieve an outcome that will ensure we have a sustainable and viable industry into the future.

"It is time for action not ignorance."