Well, the exporters are delighted and Federal O'Connor MP Rick Wilson will soon undertake a Live Export Update tour of his electorate joined by The Livestock Collective's Dr Holly Ludeman. They are keen to overturn the Northern Summer moratorium.

So...how good was it on this understocked "state of the art" ship that had carefully selected in-spec sheep (if we are to believe David Hazlehurst)....well the IO report is out....
-28 deaths but inexplicably another 155 sheep just totally disappeared from the manifold
-28 deaths but only 20 got a PM....were the others too autolysed after heat stress?
-trauma and crush injuries...attributed to feedlot procedures.....hmmm what about the bad weather on departure??? Either way, not a good look
-3 late pregnant  ewes were identified and four lambs born....wow they must have been closely scrutinised and supervised during loading given late pregnant sheep not allowed to travel
- pens near the engine hotter despite the purported brilliant ventilation
- intervention required to prevent pen flooding

AND HEAT STRESS:
All sheep suffered some level of heat stress! At the maximum wet bulb temperature of 32C, using the government scoring system there were 3% of sheep at score 4 (DISTRESS)), 12% at score 3 (SEVERE DISCOMFORT), 84% at score 2 (DISCOMFORT) and 1% at score 1. Oh yes....and  boggy pads...a sure sign that sheep cannot thermoregulate....

If thats as good as it gets.....????

SEE: https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/6878403/update-for-live-export-producers/

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the new footage by Animals Australia taken inside Indonesian abattoirs show Australian cattle being tied up by the mouth, dragged around a slaughter house by rope while alive and slaughtered while fully conscious, breaching rules introduced to protect exported Australian animals from cruelty.

The footage, taken in Australian-approved abattoirs in Aceh, shows a steer being tripped onto a concrete slab, tied up around its mouth while its throat is cut and dragged while alive by the rope by one man, while another two men help drag it by its tail across the abattoir floor.

The Livestock Collective's Objective #3 is to “Provide visibility and increase awareness so that every person feels like they have a connection and understanding of the livestock industry.”

Seems like Animals Australia is helping them with that.

Around 3,000 sheep have died of hunger and thirst after a shipment from Sudan was rejected by Saudi Arabia due to compromised quarantine procedures.History repeating itself.....

Over the years, more than 10 Australian live export shipments have also been rejected with catastrophic animal welfare outcomes. The 2003 Cormo Express disaster was one of the worst: 58,000 sheep rejected because Saudi Arabia alleged there was scabby mouth cases onboard. The Govt had to buy the sheep (with taxpayer money) and then frantically approach over 30 nations to take the animals. Meanwhile, sheep suffered and died, with the survivors eventually unloaded in Eritrea 80 days later. 6,000 sheep died, and the Govt paid Eritrea $1 million (more taxpayer money) to take the survivors.

After the Cormo Express, the Govt set up MOUs with importing countries to ensure animals would be unloaded regardless of disputes. The MOUs failed. In 2012, Bahrain rejected 22,000 sheep on board the Ocean Drover, refusing to unload the animals despite the MOU. After another scramble to find a country to accept them, the sheep were shipped to Pakistan with 22000 sheep escaping ESCAS control and being brutally slaughtered

Saudi Arabia , the repeat shipment rejection offender (rejecting 11 Australian shipments in 1989-1990 alone), also rejected ESCAS but only  a few weeks ago, ALEC said work was underway between the Australian and Saudi Arabian governments to resume live export, and he hoped a “positive” decision will be announced in the next few months. Are we about to undertake a new regulatory experiment even though Australia's boxed meat trade with this unpredictable importing nation  is now worth about the same as the Australian live sheep export trade?

There is no regulatory system that would ensure acceptable animal welfare outcomes once animals have left our shores, and there's no justification for continuing to ignore public opinion: A majority (76%) of submissions made to the Keniry review in 2003 expressed views opposing live export, and a 2018 RSPCA poll indicated around 75 percent of Australians are opposed to the trade.

See:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/13/3000-sheep-die-after-live-exports-rejected-by-saudi-arabia

https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/6855264/decline-in-middle-east-live-export-numbers/

https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/sitecollectiondocuments/animal-plant/animal-welfare/trade/export-transport-review/keniry_review_jan_04.pdf

https://www.rspca.org.au/media-centre/news/2018/new-poll-finds-3-4-australians-want-live-export-end-greatest-concern-over

Barbabic slaughter and continued use of Mark 1 boxes.....sure the images are from Animals Australia but  it is 2020 and not 2011...when ESCAS was introduced to prevent just that.

ABC News reports ALEC's chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton as saying the latest images from Indonesia of roped slaughter of Australian cattle, without stunning were distressing and suggested that it was due to inexperienced staff (because that explains Mark 1 boxes!).

How many times does ALEC have to be “distressed” after the fact before the government recognises ESCAS for what it is - an animal welfare failure. And how is it that AA continues to be the unpaid independent auditor for this industry that is essentially allowed to self-regulate?

Australians were outraged in 2011, and they are outraged today - outraged that the government consistently refuses to audit ESCAS facilities itself or penalise exporters for ESCAS breaches. If this trade is to continue, then it must be FIXED!

See also: https://www.sheepcentral.com/livestock-exporters-target-red-tape-and-regulatory-overkill/

Farm Weekly reports that The Livestock Collective, RETWA and KLTT are planning to release the results of a scientific study on the heat stress experienced by 100 sheep that were onboard the Al Kuwait for the controversial June/July 2020 voyage to Kuwait.

So....its worth thinking about study design:
1) to be published it will need Animal Ethics Approval (has it got AEC approval?)
2) study design - are 100 sheep representative of 35000 and are they even representative of all classes of sheep and all pen locations
3) why run a study on a highly atypical voyage:
- 38% less sheep than routine
- unusually swift voyage
- only one port stop
- sheep <50kg
- prolonged pre-export feedlot (which we know improves the condition of sheep loaded...thus why we asked for more time in our ASEL suggestions)....etc etc.

The industry is keen to remove outliers when considering mortalities BUT now, it seems they are happy to base science on an absolute outlier. Ho hum.....twisting science to suit themselves as usual?