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Emanuel Exports and two of its former directors have been charged for alleged cruelty to sheep after an 18 month investigation sparked by the 2017 Awassi Express footage.
Oh yes, and this week, the Dept of Ag concluded the footage was not contrived and no illegal payments were made...oh what a surprise. And then this week, the Govt announced that the export ban for sheep would be extended to 22 September, and that once trade resumed, shipments through the Middle East would be required to submit a heat stress management plan, adhere to new lower stocking densities, and automatically collect on-deck temperatures to send to the department. Could things be unravelling here for live ex....?!!!
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The Senate has called on the Department of Agriculture to release dozens of outstanding reports from independent observers on live export ships, more than a year after some of those voyages have ended.
To the surprise of everyone, the Coalition backed the motion from the Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi on Wednesday, saying the observers were intended to provide greater transparency over the live export trade. Labor also backed the motion, which called on the government to release the outstanding reports and committed to releasing future reports in a timely manner. VALE's careful compilation and analysis of Independent Observer reports has highlighted the differences between the real reports and the official reports and makes it easy to find both the cover ups and the gaps. VALE applauds all in the Senate for their support of this motion. See full report in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/24/rspca-seriously-concerned-about-sanitised-live-export-observer-reports See VALE's Independent Observer report assessment page: http://www.vale.org.au/independent-observer-reports.html Wow is this industry desperate: trials to dehumidify ships so that they can resume a ME summer sheep trade!
The good news is that they finally get the fact that ship conditions are a major welfare condition that need to be addressed (after 40 years). The bad news is that the dehumidification trial is funded through an Australian Government grant of $2.2 million. What a waste of money.....If the ships can be dehumidifed, what happens then? Sheep conditioned to low WBT emerge in Qatar to be loaded into trucks in high WBT...and then off to high WBT in the feedlots. How are the industry going to address that? Dehumidify the trucks and the feedlots or perhaps just dehumidify the whole Middle East? If only the money had been used to really help primary producers transition and find new markets rather than just wasting more money on a dying trade. The RSPCA has welcomed the Australian government's release of proposed new regulatory protections for live sheep exported to the Middle East during the months of September and October but is concerned at the suggestion live sheep exports might yet be resumed during this highest-risk period.
The Department of Agriculture's proposed new regulatory options, released last week for a 10-day public consultation period, include two options that the RSPCA says reflect the science and evidence, and significantly restrict live sheep exports during the month of September. However, despite all evidence, there is one option that would allow exports to continue throughout September. The government havent publicised this (no doubt they notified industry) so go onto the government website and have your say....but you need to get in before the 22nd July. See: https://haveyoursay.agriculture.gov.au/sep-oct-2019-sheep-exports As of today, the securities of Wellards have been suspended from ASX quotation.
Another BIG nail in the coffin. Theoretically Wellards can still rise from the abyss but it seems unlikely. The most likely outcome is that it will be broken up and assets (ships) sold off to other operators. What a shame! |
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