There is plenty of blame to go around for the Indonesian live export debacle, and not all of it rests with the Meat and Livestock Association, which is enduring heavy criticism from the industry it was established to oversee.
As Crikey shows today, as late as 2009 the cattle industry itself viewed concerns about live cattle exports as simply the “rhetoric” of “animal activists” and thought the solution was to spend more money on a marketing campaign to address the problem that “the community’s trust was at risk of being eroded by attacks from activists”. In the meantime, funding for the welfare of live export animals in Indonesia was kept at a paltry $186,000 a year.
This wasn’t merely the view of the MLA, but of a long list of industry heavyweights who advised the government on the levy imposed on the cattle industry — despite clear evidence the industry was aware of concerns about the treatment of Australian cattle in many Indonesian abattoirs.
The cynicism displayed by the industry is breathtaking. And, ultimately, it has led to the crisis point of the entire live export trade to Indonesia being suspended.
It is an outcome the industry has brought on itself. This is now a problem that no million-dollar marketing campaign can ever fix, and the industry will take years to live it down.
I’m quite interested in the disjunction between self assured primary industry (National Party?) rhetoric and objective facts.
It seems to me there may be a truth gap in some other primary industry sectors like the tree killers, not least record on say logging koala habitat on the nsw south coast given a heap of protester court decisions lately … in favour of protesters.
Or the truth gap between healthy Murray Darling river flows and irrigator dependency?
Or safe marine ecology and deep ocean drilling?
And of course the big one, climate.
Money politics? Or what.
Money politics Tom, in one.
Dr Harvey M Tarvydas
Great Crikey guts………
“It is an outcome the industry has brought on itself. This is now a problem that no million-dollar marketing campaign can ever fix, and the industry will take years to live it down.”
And we are seeing the profiteers of this industry’s activities who can’t anesthetise their ‘compassion’ wiring speaking up and supporting Crikey’s point of view.
In these circumstances the vast majority are for the status quo (profit), these always feel justified to lie (some) or not comment (most) and the virtue of truth stands alone and odd never surrounded by the virtue of a majority.
DAVID is absolutely right TOM.
Many in these circumstances will scream I would not put money ahead of such animal cruelty and they and those close to them would really vow that this is so.
Such is the complexity and naturalness of that psychological tool ‘denial’ and also fear of getting in the way of ‘your’ industry leaders.
My experience in medicine has shown me that decent, highly intelligent humans can be led in the same way to the same purpose and not even see, much less count the human corpuses piling up. The members of the profession will of course scream about my incredulity because they are convinced of their own decency.
I say to them ‘learn more complex and honest thinking and seriously take less for granted’ especially about yourself.
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