Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, today announced an assistance package for workers whose income has been directly impacted by the temporary suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia.

Minister Ludwig said the package will include Income Recovery Subsidy payments and priority assistance through Job Services Australia for those who have lost their employment.

“This assistance package will ensure employees and small business owners who earn the majority of their income from the live cattle trade to Indonesia receive support in the short term,” Minister Ludwig said.

“I understand that the decision of Government to suspend trade to Indonesia has made things tough for some people in the industry.

“Although this assistance will not substitute their full income, it will provide short term assistance while safeguards for the trade are established. The Government remains committed to reopening the trade as soon as possible.

http://www.senatorjohnfaulkner.com.au/file.php?file=/news/KURZHJUAHQ/index.html

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is expected to hold talks today with key players in the Northern Territory's cattle industry as part of her trip to Darwin.

The live cattle trade has now been suspended for several weeks after ABC TV's Four Corners program revealed the shocking cruelty suffered by Australian cattle in Indonesian abattoirs.

The live export industry has urged the Government to resolve the situation as soon as possible, as thousands of cattle wait in limbo in northern Australia.

The Government announced a $3 million compensation package on Monday, but those in the cattle industry say it simply is not enough.

Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig visited Indonesia last week but failed to resolve the issue.

Ms Gillard arrived in Darwin yesterday and attended an ALP function at the Airport Resort last night.

Tickets to the event were $500 a head, money that Territory Opposition Leader Terry Mills says would be better spent on a trip to Indonesia.

"Five hundred dollars would get her on an Air Asia flight to Jakarta and then you could get to work and resolve the diplomatic issue," he said.

Ms Gillard's last visit to Darwin was three weeks ago when her government had just announced the trade suspension.

Today, she is expected to update Territory producers on the progress of negotiations with Indonesia.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/29/3256091.htm?section=justin

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the Cattle Council of Australia has made a $5 million welfare fund available to pastoralists affected by the suspension of the live cattle export trade to Indonesia.

The Board of the Cattle Disease Contingency Fund Trust (CDCF) approved the funds for the purpose of addressing any health and welfare issues affecting the cattle following the ban.

Ms Gillard, who is in Darwin for a community cabinet meeting and talks with cattle producers, welcomed the announcement and says her Government is doing everything it can to support pastoralists affected by the suspension.

"The Government is actively looking at additional measures to assist the industry during the period of the suspension," she said.

CDCF chair Paul Saward says the welfare of the stranded cattle is of significant concern to the industry.

"We see this decision to make funds available as the CDCF coming to the aid of the northern cattle industry," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/29/3256712.htm

The Federal Opposition says documents show the Government was advised to improve animal welfare standards in the live cattle export industry prior to the explosive Four Corners program that led to an export ban.

Earlier this year, the Government imposed a month-long ban on exports to Indonesia after the ABC's Four Corners aired graphic footage of cattle being mistreated in several Indonesian abattoirs.

The ban came at the peak of the cattle export season, costing the industry millions of dollars.

The Coalition says it has obtained ministerial briefings which show Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig was advised in the lead-up to the Four Corners program to first try to improve welfare standards before imposing a ban.

But a spokeswoman for Senator Ludwig says self-regulation for the industry had failed, and the Government was forced to act to ensure welfare standards were maintained.

Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck says pastoralists have been negatively affected by the Minister's handling of the issue, which he called "a complete shambles".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-15/government-criticised-over-live-export-handling/3572974

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The problem is that pastoralists had not done their homework on the welfare of their own cattle, once it was delivered to the transport and slaughter companies... The industry as a whole had been slack... Trying to improve welfare standards before imposing a ban would not have worked in the timeframe, only delaying the inevitable which could have been even far worse for the cattle industry. The outcry over the treatment of cattle was justified and the government had not much choice but to be firm about it. The cattle industry got compensated by about ten per cent of their annual worth for two month delay due to export bans... The only major problem is cattle still fed and grew while not being exported. Eventually the export was started again with more stringent inspection set up during the ban. Pastoralists had to share some of the blame for the shocking treatment of their exported cattle...

The King of Jordan's sister has been asking Australia's Agriculture Department to stop the slaughter of conscious animals for halal meat.

Princess Alia bint al-Hussein of Jordan, the sister of King Abdullah II of Jordan, wants Australia to make the stunning of animals mandatory before they are slaughtered.

Australian Greens senator Lee Rhiannon quizzed department officials today during a Senate estimates hearing about its communication with Princess Alia.

The department's acting deputy secretary for the live animal export taskforce, Paul Morris, said there had been regular communication with the princess, spanning some years.

"From my own experience in talking to Princess Alia and in communications with her she has been a very good advocate for animal welfare and particularly for stunning in Jordan and also more broadly in the Middle East," he told the committee hearing.

Mr Morris said that, while Jordan allowed animals to be stunned before they were slaughtered, many Middle Eastern nations did not.

From the BBC

The slaughter of conscious animals was widely abandoned in the 20th Century and is now practised mainly in the Jewish and Muslim communities. Consumers increasingly expect animals to be stunned before death - but would banning other slaughter methods be an unacceptable violation of religious rights?

The sound of pistons and mechanics fills the air as the last calf of the day steps into a holding box.

A device the size of a hand-held drill is brought to the animal's head, a trigger pulled and a four-inch bolt shot into its brain, causing it instantly to collapse. The unconscious calf is hoisted upside down and slaughtered seconds later with a massive cut to its throat, showering the floor with a torrent of crimson blood.

"Killing animals is never friendly," says Paul Meeuwissen, director of the Vitelco abattoir in the central town of s'-Hertogenbosch, "but what we do is done in the most animal-friendly way possible."

The plant - the second-biggest veal abattoir in Europe - has used stunning on all its calves - some 300,000 a year - since 2008. Before then it performed some religious slaughter without stunning for the Jewish and Muslim communities, but changing public attitudes towards animal welfare forced a rethink.

The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe took the position in 2002 that "the practice of slaughtering animals without prior stunning is unacceptable under any circumstances", and the issue has gradually become more central for animal welfare campaigners, and for politicians.

"We decided to stop 'ritual' killing because the idea didn't fit us," says Mr Meeuwissen. "My customers are very critical on how we produce our meat, and the large supermarket chains no longer want any meat which is produced ritually."

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As my enlightened grandmother used to say "rituals are the bane of reason"...

A northern Sydney abattoir has been forced to close after footage emerged showing animals being beaten before their slaughter.

Late on Thursday the New South Wales Food Authority suddenly closed down the Hawkesbury Valley Abattoir after viewing video footage which it says reveals "acts of gross animal mistreatment".

The footage, taken secretly inside the abattoir, has been given exclusively to Lateline.

The NSW Food Authority is promising a full investigation of slaughter practices during the shutdown.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-09/abattoir-shut-down-over-cruelty-concerns/3821302?WT.svl=news0

Indonesia is on the verge of announcing a big lift in the quota for live cattle imports from Australia.

Sources within the trade say permits for the June quarter will be for 125,000 head - more than double the March quota of 60,000.

The announcement will bring considerable relief to northern Australia's beef industry, which has been struggling to cope with suspensions and cutbacks to the live trade since the middle of last year.

The Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association's Luke Bowen says the industry will be relieved if the quota is lifted.

"Clearly if these numbers are accurate we'd certainly welcome it as it's an increase over the current quarter," he said.

"At the end of the day Indonesia are our customer and we respect their right to say what they want and when they want it."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-15/indonesia-set-to-left-australian-cattle-import-quota/3892228 

The live animal export industry is furious the Federal Government is raising fees for certification and inspection by more than 60 per cent.

Industry body the Australian Livestock Exporters' Council has labelled the fee hike an "act of bureaucratic bastardry", and says it may send some exporting companies broke.

The council's Alison Penfold says the move is simply revenue raising, and is calling on Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce to show his support for the industry.

"We see the decision today as an act of bureaucratic bastardry in a race to fix the Department of Agriculture's bottom line," she said.

"We've got exporters facing a per-hour charge of $671.80 for simple document processing.

"There is no reason or rationality to be charging exporters that sort of fee when they are charging other industries far lower amounts on a per-hour basis."

The Department of Agriculture spends about $10 million a year certifying live animal export shipments and making sure welfare is maintained through the supply chain.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-28/industry-body-slams-live-animal-export-fee-hike/5557044