July 21, 2011

 

Northern Australian cattle exporters considering legal action

 

 

Graziers, truckers, and exporters in Australia are considering legal action against the Australian federal government, claiming its handling of the live cattle trade to Indonesia is sending them to the brink of ruin.

 

Several Northern Territory business people damaged by the month-long ban on cattle exports to Indonesia will meet with lawyers from Minter Ellison in Darwin on Thursday (Jul 21) afternoon to discuss the possibility of a class action.

 

Road Trains of Australia (RTA) operations manager Brooke Hartley said another six stakeholder groups in north-western Queensland, between Normanton and Richmond, were weighing their options.

 

Hartley said more than half of his business came from cattle exports and 80% of his cattle export income was linked to Indonesia.

 

Despite the lifting of the export ban earlier this month, there is still no sign of when export and import permits will be granted by the Australian or Indonesian governments.

 

Hartley said it would be at least another few months before cattle exports to Indonesia could resume.

 

"Despite what some might think, trade definitely has not resumed," he said, adding that he did not believe the federal government wanted exports to Indonesia to resume.

 

Hartley said the onus was on individuals to obtain a copy of the federal government's new draft regulations and abide by the 60 pages of domestic and international conditions in the report.

 

"There are three exporters here who are up in Indonesia at the moment trying to get it sorted," he said.

 

National agribusiness giant Elders is also considering taking legal action against the federal government. Elders owns a feedlot and an abattoir in Indonesia and is waiting for its export certification to be approved,

 

While any class action by stakeholders in the Northern Territories and Queensland will in all likelihood be general in scope, Elders is looking to recoup the money it lost when two of its shipments were cancelled.

 

About 1,940 head of Elders cattle, which had already passed veterinary and government requirements, were barred from being loaded onto a transport ship on June 6.

 

Two days later, the federal government announced a total ban on exports to Indonesia, preventing the departure of a further 4,700 head of Elders cattle.

 

Hartley said cattle still in northern Australia would weigh more than 350 kilogrammes by the time trade resumed, leaving graziers with stock that could not be sold for export.

 

"Even though the Indonesians have said they want 180,000 head of cattle in the next three months, I reckon we'd be lucky to get 25,000 in there," he said. "There's 300,000 head of cattle out here that have got to go somewhere ... people don't realise but this is probably going to ruin the Northern Territory."