AUSTRALIAN Livestock Exporters chief executive Lach Mackinnon has questioned the validity of the Australian Meat Industry Employees Union’s (AMEU) claim that the nations’ live export industry is the cause of thousands of meat processing workers losing their jobs.
He says the rising Australian dollar and shrinking livestock supply was more of a contributing factor.
As an unlikely alliance of the AMEU and animal welfare groups met last Wednesday at Sydney’s Parliament House to take part in a forum led by Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore aimed at shutting down Australia’s live export industry, Mr Mackinnon said it was disappointing the two groups had banded together to undermine live trade when the sector had funded a large amount of money to improve animal welfare practices in its overseas markets.
In comments that are likely to intensify the already strained relationship between the animal welfare groups and the live export industry, Mr Mackinnon claimed comments that the Australian government was subsidising its industry were completely unfounded, which is being pushed by World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) program manager Emily Reeves.
“What they are saying is completely untrue, as the reality in regard to last six months with abattoirs closing down and shifts being cut back is it is due to the high Australian dollar and exchange rates in the markets’ high quality meat goes into,” Mr Mackinnon told Rural Press.
“We obviously feel for the people who lost their jobs but it has got nothing to do with us.”
The leaders of several animal rights groups – including WSPA and PETA, were joined by members of AMEU, at NSW parliament house to petition the government to step in and end the live trade.
In the forum, the union members and animal activists warned about the implications of continuing live trade, saying the “inhumane” activity should be replaced by sending chilled or frozen meat products to export markets.
They also pushed for a “fair chance” for Australian meat processors, claiming that up to 40,000 jobs had been lost in the sector in the last 35 years due to live trade taking away its market share.
“Our view is that it’s not only an inhumane trade, but live export trade takes jobs from Australian workers,” AMEU federal secretary Brian Crawford said.
“We believe we have the capacity to perform those jobs in Australia to further value add and protect the local industry.”
Mr Crawford said he believed the live export sector was the most serious threat confronting the future viability of the processing sector.
“If both state and federal governments can’t accept there’s a problem by the time they wake up it might be too late,” he said.
But Mr Mackinnon dismissed this allegation, saying price fluctuations in a commodity spot market were just part of every day life.
“Sheep is now an expensive commodity because they are in short supply – that’s the reality of a spot market,” he said.
Australia's live exports last year were worth $994 million.
The mounting tension over live export came as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Tony Burke announced last Wednesday a boost of around $1 million to fund three projects aimed at improving post-arrival animal welfare by upgrading animal handling infrastructure and providing training for those involved in animal handling and transport in the Middle East and South East Asia.
“Our involvement in the livestock export trade and our international leadership in animal welfare allows Australia to influence conditions for animals in overseas markets,” Mr Burke said in a statement.
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