Prominent beef industry identity Troy Setter spoke in a senate estimates hearing this week of family farms lost, producer suicides and people dying before seeing due compensation from the Gillard Government's illegal ban of the live cattle trade to Indonesia in 2011.
He was asked about the Commonwealth's rejection of a counter offer in the class action that has been going on for 13 years, which means the 215 producers and beef businesses involved will yet again be dragged back to the courts.
Mr Setter was appearing as chair of the livestock export industry's research and development body, LiveCorp, in the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee hearing.
He is also chief executive officer of Consolidated Pastoral Company, Australia's largest private beef producer with two feedlots in Indonesia.
Mr Setter referred to the Commonwealth's latest move in the legal matter as a delaying tactic and said it demonstrated a lack of model litigant behaviour.
The class action members had offered to accept $510 million, plus costs and interest, to break the legal deadlock.
In the early days of the legal action compensation upwards of $2 billion was suggested.
The Commonwealth has been ordered to pay compensation following a Federal Court ruling that the 2011 was illegal.
Justice Steven Rares handed down that finding in 2020, calling the decision 'capricious and unreasonable'. Negotiations over the compensation amount have been going on since.
Mr Setter said people entitled to compensation had died from old age in the years since the class action began.
He said that was a side to this matter that was "really sad."
He made the point that it had been so drawn out that the first judge involved had since retired.
Minister for Agriculture Murray Watt came under heavy fire on the subject in the estimates hearing.
Victorian Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie asked him to explain how his government's rejection of the offer fits the model litigant guidelines, given his career as a lawyer specialising in class actions.
Mr Watt said he had limited involvement in the case as it was not being administered by his portfolio - it comes under the Attorney General's responsibility.
However, he had "not seen or heard anything that makes me think the Commonwealth has failed to be a model litigant."
He said the Commonwealth made an offer to settle in December 2022 (of $215 million) and the claimants took 12 months to respond.
"The judge had a number of pretty negative things to say about the claimants' lawyers over the course of that 12 months," Mr Watt said.
Judge Rares criticised figures put forward by lawyers for the class action around how many extra head of cattle might have gone to Indonesia had the closure not occurred.
He said it was "cloud cuckoo land to start saying that there would have been 800,000 more cows going across over the next three years."
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
