On 12 Oct 2012, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett stated that live animal exports will decline in coming years and in the meantime Australia should start sending carcasses overseas to avoid mistreatment of sheep and cattle.
It appears that Colin has conveniently forgotten that statement given his current trade talks with China. It is now reported that live cattle could be exported from Western Australia to China in 6 months. The Premier has hosed down any fears that Australian animals could be mistreated in Asia. Reassuring!
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Elders has estimated that alleged discrepancies in reported livestock values it referred to in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange last Tuesday amount to $18million! Not an insubstantial amount of money and one that certainly inflates the Australian cattle export trade value figures.
Elders also confirmed the resignations of seven senior management staff from its live cattle trading division. It has since been confirmed that the seven staff will join Elders' rival Ruralco! The Prime Minister has reportedly commented in Indonesia that he “rejects any notion that Indonesian [abattoir] standards are lower than Australia’s”. At the same time, Colin Barnett indicated that the federal government had insulted the Islamic religion in Saudi Arabia: "I haven't visited Saudi Arabia, let alone their abattoirs, but I would imagine many of them would be of a very high standard," he said.
Good to know that evidence-based assessments are no longer necessary with respect to animal welfare (or politics in general). Deluxe cabin with ensuite and cocktails before dinner? That is certainly the image conjured up by Dr Peter Arnold as he discussed the conditions for cattle onboard a recent live export voyage. At one point he agreed with the interviewer that the conditions differed from those usually perceived to be the case for exported cattle. What neither the interviewer nor Dr Arnold stated was the fact that these cattle weren't being exported for slaughter. These cattle, including pregnant heifers, were clearly valuable breeding animals being accorded kid-glove treatment commensurate with their breeding value at the destination. Not to mention that pregnant cattle get more space allocated by law. Rest assured, cattle heading for slaughter don't enjoy such conditions.
Obviously we haven't managed to persuade the Indonesians that stunning is such a good idea after all: fatwas are being issued disallowing pre-slaughter stunning. So much for improving animal welfare.
Read the article in the Herald Sun. A former industry player has admitted that it is a drive towards self sufficiency in beef supply that has led to Indonesia's import restrictions, and not poor handling by the Australian Government.
Steve Meerwald, former boss of Wellard Rural Exports, says that Indonesia was already looking at cutting back before the 2011 export suspension. You can read the ABC Rural article here. A significant decrease in cattle imported in 2010 (520,987) compared to 2009 (772,868) would certainly support Mr Meerwald's comment. It's interesting to note that while the live export market seems to be waning, red meat export from Australia is skyrocketing.
Meat and Livestock Australia has reported that Australian exports to the Middle East in May are at record levels, 46 per cent more than this time last year (and five times more than they were a decade ago). Especially notable is the increased meat imported by Saudi Arabia despite their suspension of Australian live sheep imports. Perhaps we dont have to send live animals to the Middle East after all? This is very much in line with VALE's aims, so please add your name to the cause here.
Australia’s livestock export industry was not only exporting livestock around the world, but best practice in animal welfare as well, LiveCorp chairman David Galvin told a Senate Estimates hearing in Canberra this week.
Apparently, we do things so well that just by existing we can help other countries. LiveCorp has made 116 R&D reports publicly available on its website to help other countries improve their own knowledge about animal welfare. “ We want people to come to us and seek our advice,” Mr Galvin said. Hmmm.....looks like the Egyptians may have forgotten to download all those LiveCorp documents ( more at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pYdzPhh0QY). Oh thats right.....we are not exporting there at the moment because 10 years of being there didnt change things one little bit! The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has confirmed it is assessing information and photographs provided by Animals Australia of Australian sheep being sold at Kuwait City's Al-Rai livestock market and the Friday local market on January 17-18 2013.
Some of the sheep in the images reportedly have their Australian ear tags visible. One seller had put up a sign in Arabic advertising the stall as "the centre for Australian lambs". DAFF has known about previous problems in Kuwait. Is this another breach? Or have the breaches been occurring continuously ever since the initial report? Either way, ESCAS is still not working... |
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