I did the right thing: Ludwig

He said imposing the temporary month-long suspension was the best move he could make at that time - in the midst of the public’s highly emotional reaction to the Four Corners program exposing endemic animal cruelty in some Indonesian abattoirs - to give the live export industry a brighter future.

“This was always my decision,” he told Fairfax Agricultural Media when discussing the live export industry over the past year.

“I signed the control order, and had to be convinced it was the right thing to do.”

Minister Ludwig was thrust into the national spotlight following the May 30 broadcast of the ABC Four Corners program, “A Bloody Business”, which dramatically exposed graphic images of animal cruelty and poor animal handling practices in Indonesian abattoirs.

The Minister watched the program that night in his office along with ministerial staff. He said his initial feelings reflected those of the general community - disbelief and horror.

“I was shocked and dismayed; it was gut wrenching,” he said.

The next morning he sat through some of the 20 hours of vision Animals Australia investigator Lyn White had also gathered from Indonesian abattoirs, which didn’t appear in the program.

He said that vision was worse than the scenes broadcast on public television, and revealed the reality of what the RSPCA and Animals Australia had been warning him about over several months leading up to the broadcast.

His initial reaction was to ban Australian cattle going to the 12 abattoirs that appeared in the footage and launch an independent supply chain investigation looking at the Mark 1 and 4 boxes which largely contributed to the animal cruelty.

However, just one week later the trade was suspended for up to six months in a move that’s still hurting cattle producers and others in the trade - especially now that Indonesia has slashed its cattle import permits from 540,000 to 280,000 head this year, in a move to increase beef self-sufficiency.

Some industry members remain perplexed why the trade needed to be shut down to implement the new Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS), now in place to prioritise animal welfare standards with auditing and traceability practices.

Minister Ludwig said he’s explained the government’s change in response and actual decision to suspend trade “a few times”.

“There was no way you could put a supply chain in place without suspending the trade,” he said.

He asked his Department to provide him with regulatory options and they advised him the best way to manage a solution was to implement the ESCAS standards. Prior to the trade suspension, he said, exported cattle were shipped to Indonesia without any tags and there were no transparent traceability system. Putting into operation the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) guidelines required the suspension and restarting of trade.

“In the interim, if any cattle left Australia (before guidelines were implemented) you could not assure that their animal welfare outcomes could be traced and were accountable and independently audited,” he said.

“We would have been continuing the trade with all of those adverse animal welfare outcomes.

“In my view the risk was if that (practice) continued, you would have ended up with a potential ban to the industry.

“If you recognise that producers said they were also shocked and horrified by that footage and they would not want their cattle to end up in that film, you’d have to agree that the only way you could give the community and producers the confidence that would not happen is to put in place ESCAS.

Minister Ludwig’s handling of the issue was widely criticised and sparked calls from industry groups demanding his removal from the key portfolio.

However, he remained matter-of-fact in his reflections on those challenging events and does not expect any credit for introducing the new system, which provides both improved animal welfare conditions and a more robust future for the live export industry.

“It’s not a matter for the government getting credit; there was an issue that needed to be addressed,” he said.

“This trade needs the confidence of the community to continue. We needed to step in - industry had deserted the field.

The Minister said his toughest personal moment was always making the decision to suspend trade. He said it was not an easy decision to make, considering the obvious potential impact on producers and other businesses, which duly unfolded.

“What drove me was getting the trade up and running as quickly as possible,” he said.

Minister Ludwig was philosophical on Lyn White’s role in the trade suspension.

“I don’t reflect on any one individual,” he said.

“Lyn White had a job to do and she’s very passionate about the things she’s advocating for, like many people in community who advocate on behalf of various things.

“You need people in society who advocate and are passionate about things and bring that to your attention. She was pursuing what she believed in.”

Minister Ludwig said his Department and officers deserved recognition for their tireless work implementing the new supply chain standards in such a short time-frame.

“The first estimate to ‘operationalise’ OIE guidelines (was) three months. I said, ‘We haven’t got three months, can you do it in four weeks?’ and they did.

“To do that, they worked very long and very difficult hours and did a lot of work with the industry government working group. The States and Territories also stepped in and provided high level support.

“And industry continues that work today; putting welfare officers into Indonesia and infrastructure.

Minister Ludwig said in less then 12 months huge strides have been made in animal welfare reforms in the Indonesian market and others, but the industry could do more to explain some of those gains to the public.

“I see it because I talk to the producers and exporters and the people who are investing in Indonesia and you get the sense they understand the imperative and in addition to that they have gone to the next level,” he said.

Minister Ludwig said industry groups - including LiveCorp, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and the Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council (ALEC) - could have played a more constructive role in improving animal welfare standards leading up to the month-long June 2011 suspension and afterwards.

“Those bodies had an obligation to ensure that all the risks on behalf of producers were identified,” he said.

“They did need, in my view, to do more than what they did, both in the lead-up and post-suspension. LiveCorp, ALEC and MLA did not step in and take ownership of the problem and look at it in a way that would give the community confidence.

“I didn’t do this for me. This was a very difficult decision to make and not an easy one to make.

“I am confident that there was no other alternative, if this trade was to continue.”