MEAT and Livestock Australia (MLA) has returned fire at the Federal government, saying it was given insufficient prior-warnings about the urgent need to improve animal welfare practices within the Indonesia live cattle export market and were never threatened with market closure or trade suspension for failing to act.
Agriculture Minister, Joe Ludwig, has repeatedly claimed he wrote to the industry in January giving warnings that animal welfare practices needed improving.
He has used the correspondence to justify pointing the finger at MLA and the live export industry, unfairly, during a tense and emotive period leading up to and following the market’s suspension.
Rural Press obtained a copy of the January 17 letter which Minister Ludwig sent to the Australian Live Exporters Council and copied to LiveCorp, but not MLA.
It starts with a complimentary tone regarding work done by the government and industry to improve animal welfare outcomes in Australia’s live export markets.
The correspondence seeks industry’s help with further improvements in those areas but hardly paints a picture of an angry Minister, sending clear and unambiguous signals that place the MLA on red alert about animal welfare issues in its key market.
It also fails to suggest a likely market closure or suspension for failing to act on those concerns.
In the letter, Minister Ludwig simply requests industry assistance with developing a closed loop system for the importation, lot feeding and slaughter of Australian livestock, similar to Egypt’s system.
“How could such a system be implemented and what management arrangements, such as government regulation, industry management, or a combination of both, could be applied?” the Minister says.
“I look forward to receiving the industry’s proposals to ensure high standards of animal welfare generally and during the Eid in 2011.”
Minister Ludwig tabled the letter in parliament yesterday along with other related correspondence, to defend the government against claims it overreacted to animal welfare concerns and mislead the public.
Senator Ludwig did not respond to questions from Rural Press, prior to deadline.
Responding to Rural Press questions last week, MLA Chairman, Don Heatley, said the Minister’s January 17 letter to ALEC was copied to LiveCorp and concerned the handling of Australian sheep in Kuwait and live export issues generally but did not reference Indonesia specifically.
“MLA did not receive a letter from the Minister on this matter in January,” he said.
Mr Heatley said MLA received no communication, written or verbal, from the Minister or his Department, indicating the Indonesian market would be shut or trade suspended, unless animal welfare practices improved.
“This was not put to MLA,” he said.
“Whilst we can not speak for all other sectors of the industry, I am not aware of this being put to any of the other bodies.”
The Opposition says Minister Ludwig has made misleading statements surrounding the January 17 letter and expressed similar concerns it was sent to the ALEC and LiveCorp, but not MLA and related to sheep in Kuwait, rather than cattle in Indonesia.
“The government has given the impression that it has been giving direction to the sector about cattle for some time but has mislead the public and, in Minister Ludwig's case, also the parliament, to bolster those false claims,” an opposition spokesperson said.
“This issue really goes to the credibility of the government and is further evidence of its bungled handling of the export ban and the diplomatic relations now threatening the trade.”
The Opposition cited a number of misleading comments from the government since the issue of animal cruelty in Indonesian abattoirs surfaced through the ABC Four Corners program on May 30, leading to the six month suspension on June 6 while safeguards are implemented, following massive public backlash.
In Meet the Press on June 26, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said, “Well, I have been concerned that there wasn't enough response when the Minister, Joe Ludwig, said to the MLA earlier this year, "I want a plan on animal welfare," that there wasn't sufficient response from them. There was a scanty document in March and then not much more in May”.
In Senate questioning about the issue on June 15, Senator Ludwig said he met with the RSPCA on November 17, 2010 and discussed evidence gathered by Animals Australia in Kuwait and Bahrain in relation to the Middle East issues.
In addition to that, he said he met with Animals Australia on November 30, 2010, where evidence was presented.
“Those areas are across the live animal export area in the Middle East,” he said.
“I wrote to industry in January - I think you will recall this - requesting Meat and Livestock Australia look at the footage to work through some of these animal welfare issues.
“It is an area where I have been very strong with industry, talking to industry about animal welfare issues and ensuring that they provide a path forward to assist the industry.”
Also of significance to the issue is an independent report on slaughter conditions in Indonesia from May 2010, compiled by four veterinarians, including Professor, Ivan Caple, from the University of Melbourne.
The report, which the Minister has acknowledged, failed to raise any significant alarm bells regarding the treatment of Australian cattle in the neighbouring market, which processed about 520,000 beasts last year representing an annual $320 million industry.
In compiling the report, the four vets visited six feedlots and observed the slaughter of 29 cattle at 11 different abattoirs.
“The trade in Australian cattle in Indonesia was found to be transparent and the tour group received unfettered access to facilities and staff,” its executive summary said.
“Animal welfare was generally good.
“Occasional incidents of non-compliance with the OIE Code were observed and recommendations to address these issues are made through this report.
“Australian cattle in Indonesia were generally found to be coping well with the conditions to which they were exposed.”
Three critical aspects were identified by the expert panel as significantly influencing animal welfare including; animal management including handling, nutrition and animal suitability; slaughter; facilities and method of slaughter; animal welfare standards and their practical application.
Mr Heatley said another exchange of letters between MLA and LiveCorp was sent to the Minister on January 21.
Rural Press has obtained a copy of that correspondence also tabled this week in parliament, which outlines an industry action plan to improve cattle conditions in Indonesia, focusing on transport, feedlots and point of slaughter practices, including stunning.
Mr Heatley said the Minister replied to the letter on March 4, noting the importance of animal welfare and the need to improve conditions in Indonesia
“I regret the delay in responding”, the Minister’s letter says.
Mr Ludwig acknowledged the industry’s plan to address recommendations from the independent review of processing facilities in Indonesia but again failed to indicate the industry was on clear notice about its future, if those recommendations failed.
“I look forward to receiving an update on progress against these commitments,” he said.
In questions about other communications of related significance, Mr Heatley said MLA understood the ALEC received a further letter from the Minister on March 21 which reiterated the Government’s strong support for the trade and improvements being made in animal welfare.
“This letter was not sent to MLA,” he said.
Asked if he was happy with the quality of information and communication coming from the Minister and his Department, Mr Heatley said MLA would “welcome a greater level of engagement”.
“We would like to work more closely with the Minister and the Department to ensure that the trade is reopened and would welcome a greater level of engagement,” he said.
“The latest industry plan that has been signed off by the Industry and Government Working Group on Live Animal Exports was provided to the Minister last Monday (June 27) as a basis for lifting the suspension and the industry awaits his response.”
Mr Heatley said MLA had also provided the RSPCA with prior briefings on progress in Indonesia, including the independent report’s findings, in January this year.
MLA met with the Minister prior to the Four Corners program on March 16 in Sydney, where Mr Heatley and Minister Ludwig covered a range of industry issues but “no such warnings were made”.
In the immediate aftermath of the ABC Four corners program, Minister Ludwig demanded MLA pay $5m in compensation by Friday June 17, to pay for the care for tens of thousands of Australian animals caught up in the snap market suspension which is now causing thousands of associated job losses and social and economic dislocation in Australia and Indonesia, as well as a major diplomatic crisis between the two trading nations.
In citing MLA’s refusal to pay the funds, Mr Ludwig displayed a clear level of angst towards the organisation.
“It is particularly disappointing from an industry body which does not seem to accept their substantial role in relation to the current issues,” he said at the time.
“The only thing standing between this support and producers is Meat and Livestock Australia.”
At the time, MLA Managing Director, David Palmer, said the Minister invited MLA to discuss the issues by the Friday deadline but was disappointed he had “pre-empted these discussions”.
Minister Ludwig declared he would exercise his power under the Australian Meat and Live-Stock Industry Act 1997, forcing MLA to release some of its “substantial reserves” to manage the suspension’s domestic impacts.
But section 67 of the AMLI Act says MLA must provide funds for marketing and market promotion purposes which would make it difficult to use it for the reasons Minister Ludwig was demanding.
Mr Heatley said MLA’s responsibility was to allocate industry funds to research, marketing and promotion.
“That is what we are doing by investing in training and infrastructure improvements on the ground together with Indonesia and with the owners of the livestock, to provide a system that can assure the welfare of Australian cattle,” he said.
“That is our role and we are doing that.
“MLA believes that there are supply chains in place now that can assure animal welfare.
“The plan is with the Minister and the industry awaits his response.”
