At last some sense has prevailed and Agricultural minister Joe Ludwig announced this evening that the live export ban has been lifted. Cattle that are completely traceable will be allowed to be exported to ‘independently audited’ abattoir facilities.
However many regional small businesses will have lost huge amounts of money, many cattle that a month ago weighed just under the 350kg maximum will now be too heavy for the Indonesian trade, and no doubt animal rights extremists will continue to do EVERYTHING they can to destroy Australian livestock industries.
For an amazing example of animal rights idiocy, you need look no further than the ongoing campaign to ban carriage horses. This has continued in America, Canada, Britain and Europe. There is a great fuss made of the horsedrawn carriages in New York City, for example. Googling ‘carriage horse ban’ is like googling ‘show me every extremist, irrational, obsessive animal rights campaigner on the planet’. There are millions of search results. There is even a coalition to ‘ban horsedrawn carriages’.
Good things come out of bad. The live export ban has galvanised northern rural Australia, created an indestructible communication network, and given many remote primary producers the impetus to stick their necks out to publicly explain the facts, for the first time ever. The confidence and realisation that their opinion and voice matters and can make a difference, is priceless.
Tags: Living in the country and remote areas, Horses, Australian Beef Industry, Image of the bush