What is more important - cattle in Indonesia or
people in Bangladesh?
My industry - the cattle sector in
the north of Australia - has been rocked by animal welfare abuses in export
markets, notably Indonesia and Egypt. These incidents were truly shocking
to all those involved in the sector. The response of the industry to
these incidents was swift and involved investing more into animal welfare in
these markets.
To participants in the industry
like me the response of the Australian Government to the problems seemed to be
completely disproportionate to the magnitude of the issue. To completely
close the trade overnight crippled a successful industry in addition to
offending an important trading partner and close neighbour.
The contrast between the response
to animal welfare problems in Asia and human rights abuses could not be more
stark. Recently a factory in Bangladesh collapsed killing more than 1000
people making it the worst industrial accident since the Bhopal disaster in
India nearly 30 years ago. The factory collapse was the result of shoddy
building standards and overcrowding in the building.
The factory in Bangladesh produced
cheap clothing enjoyed by consumers in affluent countries including Australia. Judging
by the reaction to animal welfare abuses, you would have expected a bigger
reaction to this disaster and demands to rectify the situation. After all
human lives were involved and not just the lives of farm animals.
The expected reaction would have involved a boycott of similar products
made in Bangladesh or at the very least, the boycott of the companies involved,
some of which were well known international brands. And it is not as if
the factory collapse was an isolated incident. It was merely the latest
in one of a string of incidents.
To say the reaction in Australia
and around the world to these incidents is muted would be the understatement of
the decade. They barely create a ripple in the Australian media and no calls
for blacklists from Green Party politicians.
Of course any such boycott would
not have been welcome in a desperately poor country such as Bangladesh.
The workers in such factories are no doubt grateful for whatever meagre
wages they are paid. Instead the industries involved should do a similar
thing to the Australian livestock industry - work with the local companies to
improve their standards. Isolating countries such as Bangladesh or even
industries within the country is likely to be counter productive.
