Exporters look to everyone else to foot the bill for their cruelty

An article in Queensland Country Life has indicated some in the livestock trade expect Australian taxpayers to pay for regulatory oversight aimed at preventing the animal cruelty that wider society sees as unacceptable.

The Dept of Ag is increasing fees in an attempt to cover the cost of putting more safeguards in place after the public outcry over the horrific death of 2,400 sheep on the Awassi Express. Actually, what society demanded was an end to the inherently cruel live export trade.

The government’s move is not “red tape gone mad,” its “red carpet removed” on an industry that has lost its social license.

The Queensland Country Life article states that farmers are the ones likely to pay the bill though, because it won’t be the exporters or the end market. Are Australian farmers  willing to pay what the ones responsible for the cruelty are not?

Surely not. There are viable alternatives to live export, and we should be petitioning the government to invest taxpayers money in assisting the transition away from it.