Entsch Backs Ban On ‘Rogue’ Indonesian Abattoirs

Federal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch has labelled the mistreatment of Australian cattle in Indonesia “shocking and unacceptable to all Australians, especially our farmers.”

“Like everyone who saw the Four Corners program on 30th May 2011, I was sick to the stomach to see the cattle being treated in such an inhumane way. As someone who has had a long term interest in the cattle industry I had assumed that this kind of animal abuse had been fundamentally addressed, with a $5 levy to Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) on every beast sold. The levy is meant to educate and implement processes and procedures in overseas destination markets on issues relating to animal husbandry, the humane treatment and slaughter of live stock. Clearly there is still huge voids in this process.

“There can be no justification for the mistreating and deliberate cruelty of any animal including Australian cattle, whether it be in Indonesia or elsewhere. As Australians, we cannot and should not accept such cruelty to any creature.

“In a perfect world, Australia would only process, freeze and ship packaged meat to other parts of the world. It value adds and creates job opportunities in regional Australia, however in reality options for marketing cattle in northern Australia are very limited in that there is only one licensed export abattoir in all of northern Australia, from the east coast in Queensland through to the Kimberley’s with the closure of Cairns and Innisfail meat works.

“Given it is northern Australia where the overwhelming majority of cattle are produced, live export is the only real option for marketing the bulk of this stock unless investment in new abattoirs can be facilitated in the region.

“Even if new abattoirs were established there would still be a need for a significant live export trade
in many regions of the world, especially in Asia and the Middle East, where in many communities there is no refrigeration or basic facilities and the only way families in those areas have access to fresh meat is to buy product that is slaughtered locally.

“There is also a significant market for many offal products that are not normally recovered through Australian meat processing but are seen as affordable and an important part of dietary requirements in these communities.

“It is true that over the past 15 years Australia has been the only country in the world to invest in improving animal welfare standards in the markets in which we operate. Positive outcomes have been achieved, but clearly no where near enough and the industry must use its influence to achieve better results and Government must demand these appropriate standards.

“We did see on Four Corners brief glimpses of good practice, where Australian Government and industry investment has provided modern stunning and slaughter facilities to some of the larger Indonesian abattoirs and this I believe is the benchmark.

“I support absolutely the government’s decision to ban exports of Australian cattle to abattoirs that do not have such facilities, and that suspension must remain until Australian expectations of acceptable animal welfare practices including slaughter are in place.

“These expectations, are not optional, they are integral to our requirements for the live export industry. I will continue to monitor very closely to ensure that they are implemented without delay,” he said.