The extraordinarily cruel rendition of Australia animals to the Middle East

It is possible to export “halal” accredited meat (animals killed in accordance with Muslim requirements) which is prepared in Australia - where we stun and render animals unconscious prior to slaughter.

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils is in fact appalled by the treatment of Australian animals in the Middle East and unconvinced by attempts by the Australian live export industry to argue that the Muslim religion requires live animals. Indeed in 2006 the chilled-frozen halal-accredited meat trade from Australia meant that over 2.8 million Australian sheep were killed in Australia rather than being subjected to live export and slaughter in the Middle East. This is up from the equivalent of 2.3 million Australian sheep the previous year (2005).

Oh, and on the off chance that anyone reading this piece is living in a moral wasteland and is seriously interested in what effect stopping live animal exports to the Middle East will have on Australian jobs, the answer is zero - certainly in terms of reducing jobs.

In fact the Australian Meat Industry Employee Union opposes the live export trade, and estimates the live export industry has cost 12,000 meatworkers’ jobs and continues to undermine the sustainability of the abattoir industry. The WA AMIEU Secretary called it an “obnoxious trade”.

Moreover, the international reputation of Australia and its chilled and frozen meat products - worth approximately ten times the export value the live export trade - is at risk through the revelations of routine and gross animal suffering of those animals exported live from Australia to the Middle East - both on-board ships and in importing countries.

In the end though, no matter how the numbers are crunched, some things are beyond economic justification. No dollar value can be placed on the collective conscience of a community.