AUSTRALIA: Shooting the messenger (ABC) over Indonesian balls up

Producers of the ABC Four Corners program, which sparked the suspension of live exports to Indonesia, will have their controversial animal cruelty footage from Indonesian abattoirs, heavily scrutinised, during the Federal Senate’s upcoming inquiry into the live export trade.

Raised by the Australian Greens earlier this month in the wake of the ABC Four Corners program, the Federal Senate will investigate inhumane treatment of Australian animals in Indonesia and the live export trade more broadly, with the inquiry to be chaired by vibrant Liberal rural NSW Senator, Bill Heffernan.

The program aired on May 30 and ignited intense public outrage over animal cruelty leading to the government’s eventual suspension of live exports to Indonesia on June 6.

But WA Liberal Senator, Chris Back, the only experienced veterinarian in the Federal parliament, said there was a major cloud hanging over the ABC program and associated footage supplied by Animals Australia.

The extreme animal rights group has an uncompromising agenda to end the live export trade altogether, despite unprecedented work from industry to improve animal welfare practices in foreign markets.

Senator Back said he is pushing to find out more about the visions’ origins.

He said more than anything else, “I want to know about the integrity of that footage”.

“There is no doubt at all, that the people who were visiting that animal cruelty on those animals, knew very well they were being filmed,” he said.

“You only have to watch it; at one stage a fellow kicks an animal in the head a few times, turns to the camera and smiles.

“Now I’ve done a lot of work in abattoirs as a veterinarian and never seen cruelty of that type and never seen someone turn to a camera in pride like that.

“Therefore to me there’s a big question mark that still needs to be explored over that whole issue.

“I want the ABC to front the Senate and if they don’t front for the Senate inquiry I’m sure we will met them in Senate estimates.”

In February last year, an independent assessment of the Indonesian abattoirs’ slaughter practices was undertaken by four veterinarians, including one well known by Senator Back - Professor Ivan Caple - an internationally acclaimed veterinarian and Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Melbourne.

Senator Back said he spoke to Professor Caple about the ABC program and asked him, ‘can you tell me whether you saw footage of anything approaching that kind of animal abuse?’

His replay was, ‘do you think if I did, I would have sat around for that length of time?’

“He claimed to have seen some head slapping but nothing else,” Senator Back said.

“There’s no doubt at all, what we saw in that footage, cut to the chase of the animal cruelty which suited the purpose of the program.

“If you want to control an animal you have to control its head.

“So long as the head is restrained by the person holding it, the animal is under control; horse, bullock or elephant.

 “All of that shocking footage we saw could be related to the fact that once the animal was down on the ground, there was no control of its head or there was no head bail.

“I’d be asking the question, in terms of animal management, why systems were not in place for head control of the animal?

“But Caple said to me, apart from that element, which could be improved and I’m sure would be, that he never saw any of that type of cruelty.

“He never saw hocks being cut, or animals standing up with a cut throat etc. etc.

“Nobody I’ve spoken to from the Australian industry, who has been in abattoirs where Australian animals are being processed, has seen that level of footage.

“Now, could it be possible to go to a remote abattoir in Indonesia and find that kind of footage today or tonight?

“Possibly it could.

“But is that the best way for Australia to have an influence on animal welfare standards?

“Do our borders now describe our interests in animal welfare standards; not for me they don’t.

“As far as I’m concerned Australia holds its head high; we are the only country that has ever invested time, money, interest and effort in upgrading standards in the target markets that we operate in.”

Senator Back worked in the live export trade in the Middle East, the Gulf, Oman and Kuwait during the mid to late 1980’s.

During that time, he said he saw huge improvements in animal welfare standards and “no other country can boast that”.

But to improve standards, he said Australians “can’t just walk into Indonesian businesses rough shod and start throwing our weight around”.

“We need that government to government, bureaucracy to bureaucracy and trade to trade engagement,” he said.

“You can’t just walk in there and start telling them what to do; they were colonised for years, they are used to being dominated by colonists and they don’t like it and we need to understand that.”

Senator Back said the first time he saw the ABC footage was when it aired on May 30.

He asked Animals Australia campaigner, Lyn White, and Heather Neil and Bidda Jones of the RSPCA why they didn’t bring the footage to him first.

“They know I’m a veterinarian and been involved in the live export trade for years,” he said.

“Their answer was they were more intent on taking it to government and I can understand that.

“But in their position, I would have taken the footage to someone I was confident would have taken some action.”

Animal rights groups have already come under fire for withholding the damning animal cruelty vision for two months, allowing further suffering of Australian live-stock to take place while they lined up their ducks to launch an intense public and political campaign that eventually saw a Labor back-bench revolt force the market’s suspension for up to six months while animal welfare safeguards and implemented.

Ms White shot the vision in March and showed it to the RSPCA in April, while the ABC’s Four Corners program took about eight weeks to construct.

Most of the criticism has centred on the hypocritical nature of the campaigners allowing further animal suffering to continue while the footage was held back, including from Federal Agriculture Minister, Joe Ludwig, and his Department.

In the delay, critics have suggested the animal activists cared more about embarrassing the government into action than the immediate welfare of animals suffering, while the delay took place.

But animal rights groups have defended themselves against those claims, saying they had to weigh up the ethical dilemma of some animals suffering mistreatment in Indonesian abattoirs, against the possibility of the Minister’s office referring the matter to industry and avoiding genuine action with a total suspension, which was likely to protect a greater number of animals.

Senator Back said he had major concerns over the delay which suited animal rights campaigners’ agenda but creating the perception, right or otherwise, the ABC was working according to a time-line that suited that agenda.

“All I can say to you as a veterinarian is that if I was aware of animal welfare abuse, I would act on it,” he said.

“Let me put it to you in human context, if you were aware that a child was being severely molested, would you wait eight or 10 weeks to get a media effect, when you could have in fact taken some action at the time to protect that child?

“That’s a reasonable question for any member of the community to ask themselves.

“As a veterinarian I would have take action immediately on animal welfare or child abuse; I don’t understand what the delay was about.”

Senator Back is not alone in wondering why the footage took so long to become public.

He agreed the animal rights campaigners could have handed the vision to the Opposition to help them prepare an attack on the Federal government, to gain greater leverage, if animal welfare concerns were the true agenda.

“That is a question you could ask those who had the footage,” he said.