Govt not to outlaw live cattle export
A BID to outlaw the live cattle export trade has failed, with the Federal Government officially refusing to back legislation to prohibit the trade on Tuesday.
A Senate committee, set up following the month-long ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia in June 2011, recommended against legislation to block live cattle exports, saying that the nation's chief veterinary officer oversee regular assessment of cattle restraint boxes used in live exports.
While the official response agreed not to pass the bill, the government response intimated the government had already done enough to ensure the trade met international standards.
The government response angered animal welfare lobby groups and partly please the northern cattle industry.
But the cattle industry has been continuing a legal action against the government's ban on its trade that has been shrouded in secrecy.
While the Senate committee recommended the government do more to compensate the industry for the ban, the government merely noted it, and outlined its financial assistance to date, which many in the industry believe was inadequate.
