Lifeline for Australia farmers over Indonesia ban

SYDNEY : Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard offered the live cattle industry Aus$30 million ($US32 million) lifelin

Published June 30, 2011 Updated June 30, 2011 07:37am

2 min

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By Syed Murtaza Gheblehzadeh

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The trade was suspended in early June after a documentary showing graphic brutality in Indonesian abattoirs sparked an angry backlash in Australia, which supplies about one-fifth of the archipelago's beef.

But the ban has hurt northern Australia's graziers, who claim the lost trade could cost up to Aus$1 billion, with stock and land values set to plummet as the local market is flooded with excess cattle.

Gillard unveiled a $30 million rescue package for the live export industry as talks with Indonesia continued, stressing that her top priority was to get the Aus$320 million annual trade back on track.

"I want to stress this is a short-term hardship package," Gillard told reporters after meeting cattle farmers in Darwin.

"The best thing we can do for the industry is get the trade resumed with Indonesia with the animal welfare issues addressed and we are working hard on that."

Gillard said halting exports was "absolutely the right decision" to ensure the trade had a sustainable future without further delays due to cruelty concerns.

"The worst thing that could happen for the industry is that we didn't resolve the animal welfare issues now, and in two years' time, four years' time, there's another problem so that there are continuing disruptions to the trade," she said.

Though she stressed that "no-one wants the suspension to last a day longer than it needs to", Gillard would not be drawn on when the ban might end.

The ban followed the release of footage showing Indonesian abattoir workers repeatedly slashing live cattle and subjecting them to extreme physical abuse.

Live exports, which also include sheep, were worth Aus$1.14 billion in 2010 according to figures released this week, of which Indonesia accounted for $320 million, making it Australia's biggest market.

National agriculture agency ABARES has estimated that the ban will slash total live cattle exports by 17 percent in 2010-11, reducing shipments to Indonesia by 38 percent to 445,000 animals.

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