December 12, 2013

 

Indonesia requests cattle importers to halt buying Australian cattle

 

 

After the spying allegations, the Indonesian government has asked cattle importers to stop buying Australian cattle until the two countries resolve their diplomatic problems.

 

But Australia's foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said it was her understanding that trade was explicitly excluded from disruption while the two nations worked on rebuilding their relationship.

 

"The discussion I had with foreign minister Marty Natalegawa on Thursday (Dec 5) confirmed that there were only three areas where there was a temporary suspension of engagement and areas that were to continue as normal included trade, education ... a whole range of other areas were specifically excluded from the three areas that were discussed, and that came not only from the foreign minister but a message from the president of Indonesia," Bishop said.

 

The Australian government noted the reports after the Indonesian agriculture minister, Suswono, was quoted as saying that while deals were based on business relationships, importers should act in line with the government's stance.

 

It was also reported that a state-owned Indonesian agribusiness, PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia, confirmed it had stopped talks with an Australian producer in favour of a New Zealand producer.

 

"When it comes to cattle and beef imports the deals were made within a business-to-business framework," Suswono said. "We can only appeal to importers to act in line with the government's stance until everything is completely normalised."

 

Suswono said his government was ready to reduce the number of Australian cattle imported if Australia did not show a genuine commitment to rebuilding trust with Indonesia.

 

Australia's agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, had seen the report but said the live cattle trade was continuing normally "at the moment".

 

The Indonesian government has already suspended military ties, co-operation on people smuggling and intelligence sharing after allegations were revealed that Australia had targeted the mobile phones of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and inner circle.

 

The comments come in the lead-up to Indonesia's presidential election in July 2014.

 

Australian producers have been working hard to build the numbers of live export cattle after the Labour government's ban, which resulted from a Four Corners programme showing cruelty in Indonesian abattoirs.

 

Soon after the spying allegations broke, government ministers raised the potential effect on the cattle trade while Australian industry players worked to calm local fears of a backlash.

 

The chairman of Indonesian chamber of commerce and industry Kadin, Suryo Bambang Sulisto warned the Indonesian government against making business decisions that might disrupt long-established, mutually beneficial economic relations.

 

The president of the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association, David Warriner, said Indonesia was entering a tumultuous period in the lead-up to the election.