Australian federal government on Thursday announced a 31 million U.S. dollars assistance package to the Australian live cattle exporters, in a move to tide them over the freeze on live cattle exports to Indonesia.
It is on top of the 3.12 million U.S. dollars fund announced on Monday, and the assistance package will also benefit businesses that rely on the live cattle trade, like trucking companies and helicopter mustering businesses.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she recognized the government's decision to suspend live exports to Indonesia earlier in June was putting pressure on beef producers.
"This is a package to meet the short-term hardship that the industry is facing now," Gillard told Nine News at a press conference in Darwin on Thursday.
"The best thing we can do for the industry is get the trade resumed with Indonesia with the animal welfare issues addressed and we are working hard on that."
Gillard said it was "absolutely the right decision" to suspend the trade, despite the cost of supporting the industry now.
"I want this industry to have a long-term sustainable future. The worst thing that could happen to the industry is that we didn' t resolve the animal welfare issues now and in two years time there's another problem and in four years time there's another problem," she said.
"This is the time to get the animal welfare issues right so the Australian community can be assured that this trade is meeting their expectations about the treatment of animals."
However, Gillard refused to draw on when the trade will be resumed, saying that it will happen until animal welfare issues are resolved.
Early June, Australian federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig announced suspension of all live exports to Indonesia until the welfare of cattle can be guaranteed. This came following the release of a footage showing Australian cattle being tortured in Indonesian slaughterhouses.
As a result of the suspension, more than 150,000 ready-to- export cattle has been stranded across Australia, with animal exporters saying that the suspension has hurt the industry badly.
Indonesia is the biggest buyer of Australian live cattle. The trade made up 60 percent of live cattle exports last year and generated 332 million U.S. dollars.
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