Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to put on the record my deep concern that any animals could ever again be tortured in the way that we saw recently on ABC television. Nothing could excuse the behaviour of the workers in the slaughterhouses, who clearly could not humanely restrain or manage the Australian cattle, typically three times the size of their local Indonesian cows that are raised quietly in their villages. Their equipment was inadequate, the restraint boxes were not used properly and the animals shown died in appalling conditions. The Gillard government's immediate response was to stop all further slaughtering of Australian cattle in all abattoirs in Indonesia for six months. This ban includes the five or so abattoirs that comply with Australian standards and the 20 or more which comply with international standards, which could with very little extra support and training become compliant with best Australian practice, including the use of stun guns.

There is, in fact, an alternative strategy that will stop the cruelty not just for Australian cattle in some of the Indonesian abattoirs but for most livestock slaughtered anywhere in that country. We recommend that the Australian government quickly and expertly create a register of Indonesian abattoirs that excludes those with the unacceptable practices. Such places should never have access to Australian livestock again unless they change their ways. Australian training and better equipment should be available to all those places that recognise the need to change and that want to be included in the approved abattoir register. Such places would then, and only then, be given access to Australian cattle when their standards were assessed as sufficiently high. They would then be regularly monitored, like all on the register.

The Indonesian government has also been concerned at the cruel practices shown in the ABC footage, given halal slaughtering practices do not condone any ill treatment. We would therefore expect them to want to support such a register and such changes in the places that were shown on ABC Television.

An independent and ongoing inspectorate is an important part of this strategy and should be in place to ensure that Australian cattle do only end up in approved and registered places for slaughter. The NLS system of animal tracking means Australian animals can quickly be identified and traced at any stage in their movement from paddock to plate.

With the cooperation of the Indonesian government and of the meat and livestock industry of Australia, the exposure of any Australian animals to cruelty in Indonesia could be stopped quickly and the chance of any other livestock being cruelly treated would be reduced and we would not destroy the beef cattle industry of northern Australia. If we simply stop all the Australian livestock trade to Indonesia for all time, animals imported from some other place in the world—for example, buffalos from India or cattle from Argentina—would be substituted and exposed to the same shocking treatments. No Australian would want to see that.

The strategy as I have described it ensures that the animal-slaughtering practices of our near neighbour are changed for the better and only those abattoirs with registered and approved Australian standards of slaughtering would be able to process Australian cattle.

It is a fact that there are some 10,000 animals already collected for shipment in Darwin and Port Hedland. There are no alternative abattoirs to slaughter these livestock in northern Australian. There is no refrigeration access in much of Indonesia. Calls to only export chilled or frozen meat out of Australia are simply not realistic. The only employment and industry outcomes for cattle producers throughout northern Australia would be catastrophic if this market for the beef was stopped indefinitely, and little would be gained in protecting other substituted livestock from other countries if we do not remain actively engaged in the Indonesian market. We are the only country in the world which is trying to assist and support another to improve its slaughtering practices.

There are far-reaching consequences arising from this live cattle exporting issue if we get it wrong. Already some beef prices have dropped 35c a kilo in the saleyards in my rural electorate in northern Victoria, as buyers anticipate the huge glut in beef coming onto the market. My farmers cannot remain viable if prices drop that far. As well, during the drought, many of my dairy farmers were sustained by selling dairy heifers to China to assist them establish a Chinese dairy industry. Obviously, we know that the good treatment of our livestock during transportation from Australia is not in question. What we have to do is make sure that there is not a terrible slaughtering experience at the end of that transportation in Indonesia.

Finally, we do not want to see substituted cattle cruelly slaughtered in Indonesia if Australia just walks away. We also know there is a very real prospect of substituted livestock carrying foot and mouth and other disastrous livestock diseases. These diseases would be brought to our very near neighbourhood through the importation of thousands of livestock from the disease infected countries. There is a simple way ahead. Our path is in a serious new direction, and it is the way we must take. (Time expired)