‘Raw hide’ as Labor spruiks trickle in live cattle trade
20th September, 2011
“JUST a trickle of Australian cattle have been shipped to Indonesia since the Gillard government reopened the live trade 11 weeks ago,” Leader of The Nationals Warren Truss said today.“Only 60,000 head have been transported at a time of year when our live cattle exporters would normally be sending more than double that number. Last year, in excess of 172,000 head were exported to Indonesia from June through September.
“Labor’s raw hide was on display last Friday when Special Minister of State Gary Gray was positively boasting about the export of just 13,500 head from Wyndham and Broome in WA, with another 8,100 to go.
“Well, I’m not impressed and neither are northern Australia’s cattle producers or the myriad small businesses and communities that rely on the trade and have been left in the lurch by the Gillard government.
“Real people have been through the ringer over the government’s bungled handling of live exports and they are unlikely to recover any time soon.
“In fact, the situation across the north will undoubtedly get worse before it gets any better. On current pace, around 250,000 head of cattle will remain stranded in Australia, unable to be exported, as the wet season descends next month.
“It has turned into the bovine equivalent of the Malaysian deal – for every one we send to Indonesia we keep four here.
“It begs the so-far unresolved question of what to do with cattle that do not make it to market? They will require feed into the New Year, by which time the animals will be well over the 350kg limit for trade with Indonesia.
“Some producers may try other live markets, but those exports will come in dribs and drabs, leaving producers to eye the southern Australian market.
“The problem for producers is that many have multi-million dollar loans based on the $2 per kilo price they would expect to get from the Indonesian market. Selling northern cattle into southern domestic markets will fetch significantly less – some suggesting around $1.40 per kilo.
“When you factor in the added cost of transporting cattle north-to-south over land across 2,000 kilometers, the losses keep compounding. It’s a diabolical position for cattle producers.
“For Labor to be spinning this trickle in the trade and, therefore, the trickling incomes of affected people across the north, is obscene.”
[ENDS]
