It was good to see the letter in The NDL on June 10 from the CEO of the Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council. 

However Ms Penfold’s letter somewhat missed the point of why many New Englanders remain concerned about the live trade.

The problem with live exports is not that they represent a “threat” to Australian workers, but rather a missed opportunity.

By resuming local processing and refrigerated export of Australia’s livestock herd, we could raise 1300 new jobs and add $200 million to the regional economy across the New England and southern Queensland. 

Meatworks in Coonabarabran, Gunnedah, Scone, Armidale and, of course, Inverell, could resume operating at full capacity.

The Australian herders to the north would still have the same end-point customers as today, but be able to pass those sales and jobs on to other Australians in the supply chain before the product leaves our shores.

The “regulation” costs that the Livestock Exporters’ Council decries actually relate to the worker safety, animal welfare, and humane slaughter practices that the Australian livestock industry rightly prides itself upon.

If there are wages and regulatory cost pressures in the system, then the most positive way to maintain Australia’s competitiveness is to campaign for greater wage justice, worker safety, and animal welfare standards overseas too. 

This is something that the global union movement does very well, and the Greens are proud to stand in solidarity with these workers.

In fairness, the Livestock Exporters’ Council should have a seat at the table in discussions around reform of the industry. 

This is why the Greens agree with calls from the Australian Beef Association, the Cattle Council of Australia and the Australian Meat Producers Group to establish a legislated, producer-owned body that can represent the interests of producers on an equal basis with government and other parties.

This was the primary recommendation of a Senate Rural and Regional Affairs inquiry completed in 2014, about which the Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce is still yet to take any action.