AL Kuwait gone, time to knock back VALE's Freedom OF Information request.....reason, was that basically too many hours of redacting required!!! Hmm maybe VALE were on the money....what are they trying to hide?
Accurately summed up by a Cathy Wilcox cartoon:
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ABC News reports West Australian meat processors saying the state's sheep flock has fallen to such a critically low level that abattoirs could soon go to the wall, resulting in job losses.
Yet the Department of Ag would rather satisfy a Kuwaiti livestock exporter than take the humane option, stick to its own rules and process the sheep here - a move that could have helped struggling Australian abattoirs. In his reasons for favouring the exporter and ignoring the moratorium, David Hazlehurst, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, admitted that he considered representations received from KLTT and the Embassy of the State of Kuwait. The Australian Livestock Exporters Council entered the debate saying: “We remain committed to providing our global partners with high quality Australian red meat.” Hmm and what about Australian consumers (with sheep meat prices already soaring)? Do they not count? We know the meat workers have never counted of course because they are not farmers. Note: VALE has joined other animal welfare groups in calling for an independent observer to sail on the Al Kuwait. That call has been heeded even though their calls to stop the voyage were not. VALE calls for the observer's report, and CCTV footage of representative sheep on all decks at both the Equator and through the Straits of Hormuz, to be made available to the Australian public within four weeks of the completion of the voyage. In granting his exemption for the Al Kuwait, the Dept of Ag Secretary, David Hazlehurst stipulated "sheep with wool of over 20mm are removed from the consignment".... Well lets hope they were removed at the Port David, because some quite obviously woolly sheep made it onto the trucks that went to the Port today. Perhaps they were pulling the wool over your eyes?? Photograph of truck 1GRL421 (front plate) at Leach Highway/Stirling Highway intersection at 16:10, Tuesday 16 June 2020.
And ALEC whipped out a quick statement, ignoring animal welfare concerns and saying the issue is "directly between the applicant and the regulator" - Again VALE says "no" it isn't. The government is answerable to the Australian public. And the Australian public is not happy about this. Nor incidentally is VALE!
See ALEC statement The Australian Govt has granted permission to RETWA for leave to load the Al Kuwait but the court case mounted by Animals Australia is ongoing in Melbourne as we write this blog.
Whilst the outcome of that is not known, VALE does know the outcome for thousands of the original 56000 consignment...and that is local processing WA abattoirs. VALE was aware that about 8000 of the consignment had already been sent for slaughter. Yesterday, we had firsthand evidence as we watched the heavier sheep (ie >50kg) head down Albany Highway to southern abattoirs. It is now believed that 10000-12000 sheep have dodged the high risk voyage and have been slaughtered in Australia. Stunned slaughter in a first world country without 3 weeks of prior hell is definitely a win....a small win.....but a win nonetheless. The RSPCA has expressed utter disbelief that the federal Department of Agriculture has backflipped on its decision to prevent the export of 50,000 sheep into the searing heat and humidity of Kuwait during the prohibited period of the Northern Hemisphere summer.
"This decision means sheep will be exposed to an even greater degree of suffering, in return for financial gain for one of Australia’s most notorious live exporters,” said Dr Goodfellow. “The public can have no faith in the Department to drive progress or improvement to this industry, let alone enforce its own regulations, when it is so clearly compromised by external influences.” RSPCA, like VALE has called on for an IO to be onboard. See RSPCA media release. https://www.rspca.org.au/media-centre/news/2020/live-export-boiling-point-rspca-disbelief-over-exemption-backflip The Israel State Comptroller has found that their Agriculture Ministry fails to investigate problems or punish ship owners or importers who repeatedly break the rules.
Ships are often in poor condition, suffering from insufficient ventilation, high temperatures and humidity; animals are forced to live in their own excrement; wet bedding is not changed often enough; food and water is often lacking; and the air is thick with the smell of ammonia from urine which causes the animals breathing difficulties and sore eyes. Yet next to nothing is done to ensure that complaints are followed up, conditions improve and regulations are adhered to, the report says. And..... last year, a third of imported cattle and 16% of sheep came from Australia. A presentation from a Ministry vet at a closed workshop last year showed that the Ministry are well aware of the problems. One vet at a port testified that complaints sent to the ministry’s Central Unit for Enforcement and Investigations “got nowhere” and that investigators only turned up when they “had time.” Sound familiar? Yeah it so could be the Australian Department of Ag. Basically it comes down to the fact that the Dept doesnt give a damn about their projected wet bulb temperatures and its all about trade....and "not rocking the boat".
See reasons below If this ship is allowed sail into the ME summer, VALE demands that the Dept of Ag places an independent observer on this ship with the IO report to be made available to the public within 4 weeks of voyage completion. In addition representative CCTV footage of sheep from all decks taken at the Equator and the Straits of Hormuz must be made available to the Australian public.
See letter from VALE to Dept Secretary here. KLTT may not get away with live export and its animal welfare issues in South Africa but ....its export at all costs in Australia.
Breaking news is that RETWA has been granted an exemption to the summer moratorium in their "special purpose vessel". Oh yeah, and earlier this year, they they were allowed exemptions to sail their non-purpose built ancient two tiered ship as well. No science, no animal welfare, no public concern is ever going to stop this industry. The Australian Govt wants it to happen so badly.....and for what? We dont know....but sure as all hell, while businesses go bust with Covid around the country, the one untouchable was always going to be KLTT and RETWA. See Reasons for moratorium exemption here See Exemption for Al Shuwaikh here: enjoy the pages of redactions! |
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