So rattled is the government by that sickening footage of dying and abused sheep on yet another of Emanuel Exports’ voyages of torture that Agriculture Minister David Littleproud yesterday did something you almost never see in government: he went out and tipped an enormous bucket on his own department. And did so on the central issue of both the latest example of Emanuel Exports’ shameful cruelty and the wider problem of the live export trade — that the Department of Agriculture simply refuses to regulate animal welfare:
[T]en days ago I received a report from my department, who is the independent regulator in respect to live trade, around an incident that happened in August 2017. I became concerned by that report not finding any breaches of standards by the exporter in question and subsequently asked the department to provide me with further information around their actions with respect to that incident and whether they had investigated that to a satisfactory level. I have only just received that brief back last week, but before that, I saw the chilling footage provided to me by Animals Australia… quite candidly, that vision does not marry up with the report I received, and that is quite disappointing to me …
Instead of being merely disappointed, though, Littleproud “engaged with the Attorney-General’s office to help me undertake a review of the skills and capabilities and culture, for that extent, of the regulator in providing better investigative powers, to make sure that any of these events are done in a far more thorough way that gives confidence to the community. The Attorney-General will be providing me with names to be able to undertake that with the people that have the skills to be able to undertake proper investigations.”
This was quite extraordinary: a minister coming out and saying his own department was so utterly unable to do its job that he had been forced to go to another department to get it to fix his, so that it could do its job “to undertake proper investigations”. It’s a colossal vote of no-confidence in the Agriculture Department. It’s also, implicitly, a rebuke of Littleproud’s predecessor, one Barnaby Joyce, who ran Agriculture from 2013 to late last year.
Joyce constantly made a point of using live exports to attack Labor, talking about how its “irresponsible policy plunged the northern Australian cattle industry into extreme hardship”. Now, Joyce’s long-term indifference to animal welfare has created another crisis for live exporters, and led to a dramatic change in tune from Littleproud.
“Can I thank Joel Fitzgibbon for his collaboration and forbearance through this matter. We have discussed the issue, particularly around penalties, the penalties that will be imposed on exporters,” the minister said yesterday, flagging that he wanted to dramatically escalate the penalties that would be imposed for breaches of live export rules. Of course, given the Department of Agriculture apparently couldn’t care less about breaches in the past, any escalation would be coming off a low base.
Littleproud was also effusive in his thanks to Animals Australia and repeatedly mentioned the “brave young man” who blew the whistle on Emanuel Exports, announcing a whistleblower hotline.
Savaging his own department for sitting on its hands, siding with animal welfare groups, lauding his Labor counterpart — what’s going on on the side of politics traditionally aligned with live exporters?
It’s panic — pure, political panic. That footage from Animals Australia, like the Four Corners expose in 2011, has engendered deep terror in the Nationals that the community will demand a permanent ban on the horrific live export industry. “Livestock being subjected to cruel and inhumane conditions on substandard export ships is unacceptable. The live export industry must comply with basic animal welfare standards or else there will be growing support within Parliament to phase it out, despite the economic impacts,” one MP tweeted yesterday. Not a Labor or Greens MP, but right-wing WA Liberal Ian Goodenough.
It’s not about animal welfare, or even about one company that regularly breaches rules, or the department that has manifestly failed to enforce them. It’s about doing whatever is necessary to save an industry that is founded on animal cruelty.
When will the nation wake up to the fact that Barnaby Joyce is a complete dud? His personal life has seen him devastate his family and severely embarrass his current partner. As a Minister he has been hopeless with too many imbroglios to list here, but all costing the tax payer money and ending with the same dismal result. No wonder Abbott and he are teaming up, they make a good pair.
I have always been ahead of the nation eh?
The nation knows Barnaby and the National Party are duds. It’s just the rubes out in regional areas that are slow learners
This is a bloody disgrace and Barnaby should resign completely. No farmer I know would wear this on their farm. The exporter should be banned permanently and their obvious cronies weeded out. I though Littleproud would be a Barnaby MkII, but perhaps I was wrong. More power ton his arm at present.
I hope you’re right about the farmers OGO. I suspect you are, I have to assume that most farmers treat their animals well and would not wear it.
I hope Littleproud is genuine too…certainly looks hopeful that some of Barnaby’s evil will be reversed.
That sheep footage was sickening to the core and can’t be unseen – political dynamite though.
Most of my family are farmers and have been since they landed in Australia in 1844, they are never cruel to animals but for god’s sake these are not house pets to sit on the couch to watch TV with us, they are food animals.
Shepherdmj: curious, can you explain the difference? From the point of view of capacity to suffer, I mean…
Cruelty is cruelty, no matter which indifferent bastards allow it or monetise it.
I remember a vet during the last big blow up saying, ” they don ‘t give a shit as Long as the cheque is in the claw. “
yes, an extraordinary outburst from a rookie Minister.
Ministers who blame their own departments can expect blowback from under-resourced public servants, ignored and under-funded by a lazy blowfly like Barnaby Joyce who was personally responsible for the wanton destruction of an essential regulator like APVMA.
Now they are on the defensive after this pathetic blame-shifting from a Minister with suspicious family connections to water thievery, some interesting leaks from inside the department might be expected. Press should stay alert for the phone to ring.
” … Barnaby Joyce who was personally responsible for the wanton destruction of an essential regulator like APVMA.” All true. But a weak PM and cabinet let him get away with it. No published cost estimates, not a shred of evidence of reasons, no building ready, highly qualified and experienced staff resigning rather than relocating. It’s a mammoth scandal and on more heads than just BJ’s.
Then there’s the gross water theft, also brought to light by tv footage, In which Littleproud’s family is implicated and for which BJ’s head should have rolled. But the government has been equally ineffective on that, too.
Simply incompetent government, despite yesterday’s blathering claims from the PM.
well exactly. & though Littleproud thanked some young lad as a hero whistleblower, there is a young woman who has worked so hard to stop live exports for several years, and a vet who wrote a report for the Departments attention (she was dismissed & I don’t know her name). But Well done to Lisa/ Sunlily on Change.org who worked tirelessly to stop the Live Exports cruelty. I hope she has succeeded despite its mucky political connections.
Sue Mills, that brave vet was Dr Lynn Simpson. The story was on the ABC’s 7.30 program in June 2016. Dr Simpson worked for the government and was dismissed after exposing the dire conditions on board live export ships. Her evidence showed that cattle were heat-stressed and covered in faeces – just like the poor sheep we saw on Sixty Minutes last weekend. Read more about it here:
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/federal-election-2016-respected-vet-says-dead-injured-faecescoated-cattle-business-as-usual-on-live-export-ships-20160622-gppn5p.html
Thanks for posting this, Marie. It seems some animal abusers get second chances, then third, then fourth, then fifth, then …
Thanks Marie. Wow there are some impressive people standing up to this Govt. Now that’s Leadership. To all- At least the Departments are reporting it to the Ministers. That shows us something. Where the buck stops for one thing. And I guess, whatever his reasons, Littleproud is doing something. Or says he is. Guess we help by showing him it is politically expedient to act with integrity
It’s great to see a Minister ready to stand up and kick his department right up the backside. Live animal exports has long been a source of great cruelty to animals, and the exporters don’t care if thousands of animals die they just collect the insurance $$$. Jail the bastards.
Well yes. But. It occurs to me that the Dept had become accustomed to no action every being taken on their reports, no matter how terrible the contents and how dire their warnings. With Joyce as Minister too much was ignored – in Dept of Water Resources too. And I wonder whether Littleproud would have taken action but for the piccies made available by the whistleblower. We’ve heard denials and calls of fake news before in similar situations.
This is another example of the outrageous maladministration of Barnaby Joyce; the Murray Darling rorts and mismanagement another and dare I mention the non move of the APVMA from Canberra to Armidale which has resulted in the virtual destruction of the department.
The fact that this incompetent drongo is still in parliament shows something very bad about public life in Australia.
The response of Littleproud , as BK points out, shows bad this situation is and what’s at stake.
To get those who have built their business plans around LE to find another job is not going to be easy. Doable but it wont happen.
The best we can hope for is that the industry will be properly regulated and severe penalties result for infringement.