Media Release

KAP Leader Bob Katter will next week welcome a delegation of North Qld graziers to Canberra to amplify the ongoing efforts to rescue Australia’s northern cattle industry from escalating crisis.

The Federal Member for Kennedy will escort the delegates – from the steering committee of the recent Cattle Crisis Summit he initiated in the sprawling electorate’s grazier heartland – to meet with the Indonesian Ambassador as part of a bid to restore international relations and resurrect the vital live export trade.

It follows on from last week’s discussions in Canberra between Mr Katter and the Ambassador, the latest in a series of meetings between the pair in the two years since the Australian Government’s precipitous and ill-conceived live export ban dealt northern Australia’s cattle industry a grievous blow.

“Two years ago, I asked whether all those crying about the welfare of cattle bred for beef would shed the same tears for our nearest neighbours’ hungriest people, who have been deprived of essential protein; or for the Australians also reliant on this northern lifeblood industry, whose lives have been destroyed,” said Mr Katter.

“History is full of misguided do-gooders and extremists such as animal welfare groups – but the tragic irony of their stance is that it will probably contribute to the slow death-by-starvation for many thousands of cattle that have been left stranded by a decimated live export market, extreme weather, government ineptitude and the rabid greenies, who would prefer to see former cattle properties locked up as exclusive ‘conservation’ havens for burgeoning feral animal populations than to allow our emaciated cattle a temporary return to graze.”

But where there was life there was hope, said Mr Katter in pointing out a series of small but significant steps towards addressing the immediate northern cattle crisis and wider rural debt crisis gripping Australia.

“After we first brought to the nation’s attention the looming rural debt catastrophe in late 2011, when hundreds of North Qld graziers rallied to try and rescue a station at risk over questionable lending practices, we secured the Rural Debt Round Table in 2012 to give the Federal Treasurer first-hand accounts of the coalface issues and solutions,” he said.

“A year of relentless lobbying then led to the Treasurer’s announcement this year of the $420m Farm Finance Package including concessional-rate loans (and we remain optimistic that the State Government will dig into their pockets to contribute to this initiative), as well as another $100m in the Federal Budget of further assistance for drought-affected farmers.

“We have also brought the Qld Government onside with our Cattle Crisis Summit resolution to allow drought-stricken cattle access to grazing in former cattle stations-cum-conservation estates – and we’re again optimistic this will be expedited.

“But much, much more still needs to be done. We’ve got only 10 per cent of what we need to see this industry thrive again. We need State and Territory governments to match the commitments of their Federal counterpart; and we need to address long-term fundamentals – which include bringing down the value of the Australian dollar.

“We also need Australian politicians to vote for legislation we have begun drafting to establish an ‘Australian Reconstruction and Development Bank’ that can reconstruct debilitating financial arrangements in agriculture and provide low-interest, long term funds for the further development of our agricultural industries and infrastructures.

“A fair go is all we are asking for – it’s not too much to ask. And I must thank the myriad men and women who have rallied across Australia in recent months to ensure this issue of national concern is being heard in our capital cities and in Canberra,” Mr Katter said. 

PHOTO: Mr Katter met with the Indonesian Ambassador, Nadjib Riphat Kesoema, in Canberra last week as part of a series of meetings, since the live cattle export ban two years ago, to restore international relations.