The video begins with some footage of a steer being tripped out of a Mk 1 restraining box (the type that are banned and no longer used) and hitting the floor with an accompanying sound effect and the typical spooky/sad music playing in the background to pull at your heartstrings.
They then pat themselves on the back for creating outrage.
Now I'll return to that in a minute because I want to cover the outrage thing but the words that really got to me was when the story was promoted as the story "they don't want you to see"?
Now I take exception to that.
The live export industry is required by law to disclose things like how many animals die in transit and to report things like when a ship is turned away from a port because of disease concerns.The Australian Government was kept in the loop the entire time this saga was playing out and Wellards have even posted a statement on You Tube.
Now if this is the story "they didn't want you to see, why are they showing it to you themselves?
ABC TV seems to go to great lengths to paint live export in a negative light by pouncing on every negative story about the live trade they can find and seem to totally ignore any positive stories about the trade with the only exception being Landline. Which very few people in the cities watch anyway. The ABC even see's fit to publish polls with leading questions such as this one.
Now four corners want to pat themselves on the back for creating outrage.
Now I do acknowledge that animal welfare has come forward in Indonesia by leaps and bounds (even if they won't) but is outrage really something to be proud of?
Is the ABC proud of driving a wedge between Rural Australia and the big cities?
Are they proud of the snap live export ban that sent many farmers close to financial ruin?
Is it right the ABC continues to pat themselves on the back while the northern property market is depressed to the point that some farmers are in debt more than their properties are worth?
Is the ABC proud of creating an all time low in relations with one of our nearest and biggest trading partners?
The people that bore the brunt of this "outrage" were our northern cattlemen and women, real people with families and simple dreams that just want to make a living from running cattle in the outback. These people had their dreams shattered but did they really deserve that?
Did Lyn White get any footage of an Australian farmer anywhere in those hell hole abattoirs in Indonesia?
Did Australian farmers commit those horrible acts of cruelty?
No?
Then why is the ABC so proud of punishing them for it?
You're an angry little man aren't you Jim? For a start, I'm from Trangie, and I wouldn't have any of my stock shipped live overseas. So this is not a country v city thing.
ReplyDeleteSecond, the head of the DAFF said, " we could have a similar incident in any of our markets", an absolute reason to shut down the live trade.
Third, how do you accuse the ABC of "creating outrage" when they showed actual footage of the massacre? Are you accusing Sarah Ferguson of rubbing dirt and blood on a healthy sheep and placing it on top of the pile?
From my point of view the contined existence of the live export trade is the thing that's driving the city v country wedge. It's doing more harm than good, and it's not helped by non-caring dolts like you trying to a. excuse it , and b. throwing mud at city folk.
Get over yourself and start behaving decently.
First Pakistan was an isolated and unprecedented incident that had nothing to do with the conduct of the exporter or the importer.20,000 sheep sounds like a big number but it's quite small when when you consider the industry got the formula right with 3.3 million animals last year.
DeleteI didn't accuse the ABC of creating 'outrage' they patted themselves on the back for creating it and congratulated themselves for the suffering they brought down on rural Australia.
Live export underwrites livestock prices across this country and sheep prices dropped by 40% when live exporters withdrew from the Western Australian market in September.
If you would happily condemn your fellow farmers to bankruptcy by advocating for a ban on the live trade as a way forward you are not a farmer, your an industry apologist.
Have a good hard look at yourself mate. Your a fool if you don't realize that when their done with us they'll be coming for you.
Jim, you just don't get it, do you? The vast majority of our market is the very city people you choose to criticise. Calling your own customers ignorant is simply stupid, as is your insistence on practices that, in this day and age, are on the nose, even to most farmers.
ReplyDeleteLivestock prices are not underwritten by live exports. That's just rubbish. Boxed English beef is an absolutely different product with a different market to live Brahman breeds. The price of live cattle is, like any other product, determined by supply and demand for THAT product. Your assertion of a 40% drop is simply false. http://www.mla.com.au/Prices-and-markets Beef prices have risen since September, not fallen, and are at almost record levels despite a fall in live beef exports. Where you get 40% from is baffling.
If making money is your sole life goal, then it's you that needs to take a good hard look at yourself. Or if life on the land is too much for you, then it's probably time to pack it up. We need bellyachers on our side like we need drought.
How about you read what I have written before you comment. I'm criticising the ABC for misleading people like yourself, not city people in general.
DeleteSheep prices dropped by 40%, sh-e-e-p, you know sheep? They're usually white and they grow wool? Make a sound like Baaaa?
People like me built this industry mate, go back to Melbourne where you belong
and please leave another comment I love showing the world how stupid you are.
Again, Jim, your whinging is making us all look bad. Mutton prices - which until recently were at all time record highs, are back to sustainable levels, not because of anything city people have done, but because of the high $ and a fall in overseas demand. You should read more, that's the official MLA line. http://www.mla.com.au/Prices-and-markets/Market-news/Reduced-supplies-halt-mutton-price-slide-27092012
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, I recall a time in the 90s when you couldn't get 20c for a whole sheep. My neighbour was forced to slit the throats of 2000 border leister ewes because the bullets cost 40c each. Under the circumstances your whinging sounds pathetic.
And while you're taking reading lessons, open a map you dill. Trangie is no-where near Melbourne.
You really are an embarrasasment ot all farmers Jim. You bitch about your customers, bitch about supermarkets, bitch about the weather, bitch about prices...WTF are you in the industry for?