September 9, 2010

Australian Labor Member to press for live cattle export ban

The Labor Member for Page, Janelle Saffin, plans to push her private members motion that bans the live export of cattle.

She says local meat processors and beef producers want the live trade stopped.
But at Casino in her northern New South Wales electorate of Page, graziers disagree; ban will flood the domestic market and push down prices.

"I think they should export them, because it'll just mean more cattle will come on the domestic market. The producer needs everything he can get out of his cattle. It's very hard to make a living. That would only build up more cattle on the processing operation here in Australia. You can't get the cattle killed here. We haven't got the workers or the infrastructure to do it. It's been the greatest thing in the world to get rid of those cattle," she says.