abbott on live cattle exports

By Jeremy Thompson at ABC Online...

Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig has refused to express confidence in Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), in the wake of reports linking its directors with companies benefiting from grants it awarded.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that four meat processors - JBS Australia, Nippon, Rockdale and Teys - were awarded a third of MLA's multi-million dollar research and development budget.

The newspaper says during that time, 2003 to 2008, representatives of all four companies sat on the MLA board.

But an MLA spokesman told the paper the directors were absent from meetings when grants involving their companies were discussed.

Senator Ludwig would not rule out calling an inquiry into the government-funded MLA, nor would he back the meat industry's promotional arm.

"I will certainly take on board anybody that has any evidence about their conduct, and they can be properly investigated," he told AM.

"It's not a question of whether we've got confidence in anyone in this supply chain. The real question is how do we ensure the long-term sustainability for this industry."

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has slammed the government's handling of the live cattle trade scandal, saying the suspension of trade is going too far.

"This has been a complete stuff-up by a government that is utterly incompetent," Mr Abbott told Channel 9.

He said there are a number of abattoirs in Indonesia that do treat animals humanely.

"There's no point destroying a perfectly good export business while there are centres that we could send cattle to that have these measures in place."

Mr Abbott said the Government should have had a strategy to deal with the revelations on the Four Corners program on the day it went to air, rather than waiting a week before imposing the export ban.

"They must have known this was happening. If they didn't know this was happening, surely the Four Corners report would have alerted the Government to it," he said.

"They should have been ready to go with a proper response as soon as that report went to air."
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Perhaps Mr Abbott might like to name the humane abbottoirs he is referring to so that his claim may be tested???
In any case his reaction is way out of touch with what most Aussies seem to want done about this issue.
Dave R.