Our lives are in turmoil

The lives of our family are in turmoil at present with the suspension of the livestock export trade to Indonesia.

We own and operate three cattle stations in the Northern Territory. The animal cruelty shown on the Four Corners program was appalling and came as an enormous shock to us. It is incredibly upsetting to know that any animal could be treated that way. Animal welfare is an intrinsic part of every aspect of our business and we do not condone animal cruelty in any way. It is fact that the animal cruelty shown on the Four Corners program is not common practice in Indonesian abattoirs processing Australian cattle.  We acknowledge there are problems in the Indonesian market but our industry was already taking steps to fix them. If there was no way of fixing or preventing the appalling animal cruelty depicted by Four Corners then we too would support shutting down the trade. We absolutely support banning the supply of Australian cattle to rogue operators who are unable or unwilling to meet International animal welfare standards.

The Australian Government has put the lives of countless cattle families in Northern Australia in serious jeopardy.  It is not only cattle families that will suffer, there will be a massive ripple effect touching contractors, trucking companies, fuel companies, small businesses in regional towns – the list goes on. How any government expects a business or family to survive without an income for 6 -12 months is beyond me. Apart from the fact that they will send many of us broke, they have also hurt thousands of Indonesian workers and families that rely on the trade. There are 100 million Indonesians that live on less than USD $2 a day which is why they don’t own refrigerators.  The housewives buy meat daily from the wet market. This is why Indonesia needs live cattle.

The Australian government should not have banned live export to Indonesia. Instead a modified trade should have remained open where it could have been guaranteed that animals were slaughtered to international welfare standards. Most of the abattoirs in Indonesia that accept Australian cattle do the right thing and meet international welfare standards.  Our Government should have come to the table with their Indonesian counterparts and industry experts to resolve the issues. The issues can and will be fixed.

Banning live export does not stop animal cruelty, instead it will cripple the lives of thousands of families.  We shouldn’t forget that 70% of cattle processed in Indonesia prior to the ban were not Australian cattle. If we are not in the market, how can we influence change?  Our industry has injected millions of dollars into improving animal welfare and Australia is only country in the world that invests in animal welfare improvements off-shore.

If the Indonesians decide to import live cattle from other countries then we could potentially have foot and mouth disease in Australia within a few years. This could potentially devastate all livestock industries in Australia, not just live export and not just cattle.

The Four Corners program has provided an opportunity for both Australia and Indonesia to fast track change in Indonesia. These changes will allow investments in infrastructure and education and in doing so continually improving the care of all livestock. Australia is a world leader in livestock production and as such, why wouldn’t we work with developing countries to improve their systems.

We need your support now.

Marie Muldoon is a 3rd generation pastoralist, the mother of three children, lives on Midway Station, Northern Territory.

See also: Dear Four Corners