BAHIJAH: FARMERS CARE ABOUT ANIMALS?

No-one in the farming industry had even the slightest concern about livestock export ships shuttling back and forth to Indonesia (a short hop away) when foot and mouth disease was there and with lumpy skin disease ongoing. FMD would be a catastrophe for Australian farmers and Aussie travellers going nowhere near livestock were told to disinfect or throw away their thongs whilst the biggest risk was actually livestock export ships that had had Indonesian livestock personnel wandering all over them.
Now, we have a ship full of Australian livestock that has been floating around in the ocean for 30 days, nowhere near land or any exotic diseases and suddenly it is the high risk that Indonesian cattle ships werent. Those farmers who so want to convince the public that they love their animals and really really care about them and have the world's highest animal welfare standards, want to restock this ship with fodder and send their much loved animals 6 or more weeks around the Cape to finish their mammoth voyage ( a voyage that would go close to or exceed the Cormo Express voyage of 79 days).
Needless to say, farmers are losing any shreds of credibility they may have had left.
And if the Dept doesnt act decisively and intervene to order unloading, quarantine and slaughter, then any credibility it (and that of Australian animal welfare generally) may still have would also be shot.

See: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-30/live-export-ship-mv-bahijah-stranded-off-fremantle-port/103401754