Dont worry about Oz.....just keep those Kuwaitis happy

ABC News reports West Australian meat processors saying the state's sheep flock has fallen to such a critically low level that abattoirs could soon go to the wall, resulting in job losses.

Yet the Department of Ag would rather satisfy a Kuwaiti livestock exporter than take the humane option, stick to its own rules and process the sheep here - a move that could have helped struggling Australian abattoirs.

In his reasons for favouring the exporter and ignoring the moratorium, David Hazlehurst, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, admitted that he considered representations received from KLTT and the Embassy of the State of Kuwait.

The Australian Livestock Exporters Council entered the debate saying: “We remain committed to providing our global partners with high quality Australian red meat.”

Hmm and what about Australian consumers (with sheep meat prices already soaring)? Do they not count? We know the meat workers have never counted of course because they are not farmers.

Note: VALE has joined other animal welfare groups in calling for an independent observer to sail on the Al Kuwait. That call has been heeded even though their calls to stop the voyage were not. VALE calls for the observer's report, and CCTV footage of representative sheep on all decks at both the Equator and through the Straits of Hormuz, to be made available to the Australian public within four weeks of the completion of the voyage.