Northern Territory grazier Rashida Khan writes:
I am sick of hearing from self styled environmentalists, animal rights campaigners and other highly emotive anti-farm people, who whine in the spotlight and yet offer no viable solutions or alternatives to the issue they are raising.
I feel the need to comment on the Anti Live Export movement. Live Export represents the sole market for many northern graziers like my family. If this is stopped, then what do the animal lobbyists suggest graziers do with our cattle?
That’s me in the photo below on my horse mustering at our place near Batchelor in the Northern Territory.
Most of our beef goes to Indonesia; the animals are held in feedlots and then slaughtered according to consumer demand. Refrigeration is not wide spread in much of Indonesia and Live Export means people can still have access to high quality protein in their diet.
We can’t afford to import or grow grain for feedloting and our slaughter houses have all closed one after the other, leaving northern graziers with limited marketing options.
Photo of our Brahman and Brahman cross steers ready to go to the live Export trade.
Darwin is closer to Indonesia than it is to Alice Springs, Townsville or Adelaide. When exported our cattle are traveling for the minimum amount of time, they gain weight on the boat (a sign of unstressed healthy animals) and they are handled carefully when they arrive. Unfortunately, you don’t see any film crews watching the cattle walk calmly off a boat, or photos of healthy cattle chewing their cuds mid voyage.
Photo of our Brahman cross breeders with calves at foot in the paddock.
Here’s something to ponder. If live export stops; then cattle will have to be sent interstate.
-To minimize stress they will have to stay loaded till they reach their destination which means traveling unnecessary long distances without feed or water.
-How will we fill the current labour shortage to slaughter and process these cattle?
-Who will build facilities to accept cold stores in Indonesia? Remembering that currently 80% of beef is bought in the wet market
-What will happen to the Indonesian feedlot industry when they have feedlots but no cattle? They will buy elsewhere of course. Our biggest competitor, Brazil, will step up to the plate with cheaper beef and to address the new market they will log some more of the Amazon Jungle. This means Aussies out of jobs and monkeys out of trees.
When the lobbyists have answers and plausible alternatives to Live Export then they should state their case. I suspect that if they succeed in stopping Live Export, the lobbyists will be like the dog that finally caught the motor car!
Have Your Say! Should the federal government cave into pressure from animal rights groups and ban all Live Exports of Cattle and sheep from Australia? Leave your thoughts or questions for Rashida. Click on the Blue word Comments below and type your comment.
