IN its latest campaign against the live export industry, Animals Australia has claimed it has the support of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) in its push to have a closed abattoir system implemented in the Middle East.
While ideally the animal welfare group would like to see an end to the live export trade all together, in the interim it wants a closed system implemented to ensure that animals are not onsold to individuals and are only slaughtered at one abattoir under international control.
Animals Australia said it had put forward a proposal on closed systems to LiveCorp, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and the Australian Live Exporters Council (ALEC) and that it even had the support of the PGA.
But PGA president Rob Gillam denied that the organisation supported Animals Australia or the implementation of a closed system and said the group had taken a letter written by former PGA livestock committee chair Tim D'Arcy, out of context.
"The letter was written by Tim D'Arcy on behalf of the PGA, basically outlining that we thought closed systems sounded like an idea worth investigating and was something we wanted more information about," Mr Gillam said.
"Nothing ever came back from Animals Australia.
"If the PGA had pursued that proposal in any way, shape or form, then we would have wanted support from them for live exports.
"Quite frankly, I really think they've used the letter out of context."
The call for an immediate implementation of a closed abattoir system is part of Animals Australia's latest anti-live export campaign, which included an "investigation" that saw the emergence of photos and video footage of Australian sheep being slaughtered, dragged and transported in the boot of cars during the recent Festival of Sacrifice in Kuwait.
Animals Australia executive director Glenys Oogjes said their investigation highlighted the "failure" of the live export industry to be able to protect animals from abuse in the region.
Ms Oogjes said the rejection of their closed system proposal to industry, left them with no choice but to conduct their investigation.
"We proposed this as a mechanism to effectively reduce suffering, but it was rejected by the industry," Ms Oogjes said.
"We therefore had no choice but to again visit the Middle East, and predictably, tragically, we again documented appalling cruelty."
This documentation featured in an episode of The 7.30 Report, aired on the ABC last week, which Mr Gillam said was largely one-sided towards the animal welfare group.
"I'm sure the story was done to advantage the position of Animals Australia, which is totally against live exports," Mr Gillam said.
Ms Oogjes said the footage taken during their investigation was being provided to the Princess Alia Foundation (PAF), which would use the footage to lobby religious authorities to speak out regarding the non-compliance with Islamic teachings and government leaders to introduce animal cruelty legislation in those countries.
In regards to the argument that other countries will pick up the slack if Australia no longer supplied live animals to the Middle East, Ms Oogjes said they believed the Australian chilled sheepmeat trade would increase in its place.
Ms Oogjes comments are widely disputed by live export industry representatives and Mr Gillam said the reality was that other countries would be quick to supply live animals in Australia's place and they would not have the same attitude towards animal welfare.
"We acknowledge that they have identified some problems but at the end of the day, it's a shame they won't address some of the problems over there themselves rather than just trying to address the suppliers," Mr Gillam said.
"If Australian farmers cease supplying into that market, they will continue to find sheep elsewhere in the world and the welfare of those sheep won't improve and is likely to be worse than it is now because they won't have the pressure that comes from Australian producers."
In response to the report and a RSPCA call for an interim ban on live export, Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig said the Australian Government did not condone animal abuse in the live export trade.
Mr Ludwig said the government and industry had worked hard over recent years with local authorities, animal welfare groups and importing countries to improve the standard of treatment for animals exported from Australia.
He said the images provided by Animals Australia demonstrated more work was required to achieve standards that were acceptable to the Australian community.
"I have met with representatives of Animals Australia to hear their concerns and with the Australian Livestock Exporters' Council," he said.
"I am working closely with both industry and animal welfare groups to find practical ways to ensure livestock exported from Australia are no longer exposed to this kind of treatment and are processed in appropriate facilities.
"The government continues to support the live export trade because it is an important industry of significant benefit to many rural and regional communities."
LiveCorp CEO Cameron Hall said he was seriously concerned about the images contained in the documentary.
Mr Hall said the industry was working hard in the Middle East to improve animal welfare standards and address the concerns raised by animal welfare groups.
He also warned about the dangers of banning live exports.
"Putting a ban in place on the sale of live stock for that three day period or in total, simply sends the message that Australian livestock won't be available in the marketplace," he said.
"Livestock will be sold over those three days, from Australia or not.
"If a total ban is put in place the welfare of animals in the region will probably be much worse because there's nobody there actually investing the time and effort and the money, making improvements."
