Six month suspension needs to be reviewed: Coulton
08-June-2011
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton has urged the Government to reconsider its decision to place a suspension of up to six months on the live cattle trade to Indonesia, stating it will be detrimental to our cattle industry and our producers.
“The Government has not thought this decision through at all. By no means am I condoning the inhumane slaughter practices we witnessed, nobody would, but by pulling out of Indonesia we have in fact dealt a huge blow to the industry and our cattle producers.”
“We need to take a sensible and practical approach and consider the consequences this suspension will have,” Mr Coulton stated. “Our domestic markets will suffer immensely and the Indonesians will find a replacement market if our trade is not resumed within weeks. It will then be ultimately harder to restart our live trade when there is no demand in Indonesia.”
“Also by stalling this trade too long, the government will impact on a whole year’s worth of live trade, as cattle from the northern Australian stations can only be transported during the dry season and the cattle have to be at a certain live weight. This opportunity will be lost within several months.”
Mr Coulton said that it is important to improve the welfare standards in certain abattoirs, however it is also important not to penalise the Indonesian abattoirs that do reach international standards.
“The fact is that there are 25 Indonesian abattoirs that do adhere to humane slaughter practices and internationally agreed standards and we are penalising them. If we do not support them and send our cattle there, they will source an alternative live trade.”
“There are just too many negative outcomes that will come from this suspension and the Government has not considered any of them.”
“It is imperative that the Government and live export industry work to promptly ensure the welfare standards of our Australian cattle in Indonesia are improved and the export trade to Indonesia is resumed as quickly as possible. A six months suspension needs to be reviewed and the trade needs to be recommenced within weeks. This needs to be the immediate priority of the Government.”