4 Corners tonight on ABC TV in Australia showed the horrific treatment of cattle in Indonesian abattoirs. The footage on the program shows animals kicked, thrashed and beaten, their throats hacked at, eyes gouged and tails broken. In one incident, a white steer broke its leg on slippery ground, and then, in an effort to force it to walk to the slaughter floor, had its tail broken, eyes gouged and water poured in its nostrils.
RSPCA chief scientist Bidda Jones said that on average, animals had their throats cut 10 times before they died.
The treatment of these animals in Indonesia is especially important to Australia. Indonesia is Australia’s key market for live cattle exports, taking 60 per cent of all cattle, and in 2010, the trade was worth more than $300 million.
But as we know, money talks loudly. The treatment of the animals seems to have come as a big surprise to the Australian live export industry, so they want us to believe. LiveCorp CEO Cameron Hall described the scenes as "graphic and disturbing", and announced the suspension of the supply of Australian cattle to three of the four abattoirs. The fourth abattoir, Gondrong in Jakarta, was the scene of sustained suffering by Australian animals. When asked why Gondrong is continuing to process Australian cattle, Mr Hall says training can address the issues. A statement released by industry last week said: "A team of Australian cattle experts will fly to Indonesia this weekend to deliver this training to priority facilities, including this facility."
Yet, 4 Corners has revealed the facility has already been visited six times by industry representatives in the past 14 months. And the animal welfare people who provided some of the film to 4 Corners were scathing of the industry’s inaction. Spokeswoman Lyn White said:
"We had assumed that because there were greater level of industry involvement in Indonesia, the treatment of the livestock would have been better,"
"But we couldn’t have been more wrong."
She also said that her suspicions were aroused when the the live export industry released a report in January describing animal welfare in Indonesia as generally good.
The Australian livestock export industry and the Australian Government have invested more than $4 million into improving animal welfare in Indonesia over the past 10 years. On tonight’s evidence, it doesn’t seem to have achieved much.
Cameron Hall says cruelty to animals is unacceptable, but it will take time to achieve change in a developing country. He said:
"We currently have five people in Indonesia on an everyday basis. We’ve sent 10 more into the Indonesian marketplace,"
"Those people will probably stay there on a three to four week rotation but we’ll continue to send more people up to Indonesia."
LiveCorp insists the acts caught on camera do not reflect the broader Indonesian market. (The “it was an isolated case” excuse always gets gets a run when someone is caught out).
In response to the Four Corners program, Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig has ordered an immediate investigation into evidence of cruelty to Australian beef cattle exported live to Indonesia. He also said in budget estimates last week that he had been concerned about the live animal trade for some time and criticised the industry for being too slow in addressing welfare concerns. Um, Senator, you’re the minister with the power to make them take action faster, so you have failed in your duty.
Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie says he plans to introduce a private member’s bill into Parliament tomorrow. It is understood he and Senator Nick Xenophon want the live export industry wound up within three years. Why wait? The evidence is there. We should be stopping providing the inputs to Indonesian slaughterhouses until they get their act together and treat the animals as decently as possible. Simple. Don’t supply live animals to them without being absolutely satisfied that they are being handled humanely. This should happen immediately, not in 2, 3 or 5 years time.
