Kill the Fatted Calf

While I was away in Germany I belatedly read a report that the Federal Government had banned live cattle exports to Indonesia. This is a typical policy on the run, poll driven, populist response to a TV program, in this case 4 Corners on the ABC.

As a result, thousands of people are at risk of being thrown out of work, many more Indonesians are being deprived of staple food, and once again our Federal Government is looking like a bunch of incompetent amateurs.

This is not to condone cruelty to any living creature, no intelligent, compassionate person would, but things need to put into perspective. For a start I find it hard to believe the powers that be did not know cruel practices were being carried out in some Indonesian abattoirs.

Why did it take a TV program to alert them to something everyone in the meat industry already knew about? So, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and say they were ignorant of the situation in Indonesia.

And anyway, what happened to diplomacy!?

Surely someone in high authority (What about “…Kevin, I’m from Queensland and I’m here to help”) could have allowed the Indonesians to at least save some face and embarrassment by holding talks in private to discuss the situation to the mutual benefit of all parties.

This government is like (pardon the pun) a bull in a China shop when it comes to diplomacy. Our, at the time, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd set the scene when he referred to the Chinese as “rat f….rs” at the climate change conference in Copenhagen last year.

No wonder Asian countries have seen the West as barbarians for so long.

By the way, when are we going to shut down the live sheep trade, after all we have to be consistent, even incompetently consistent. And, last but not least, has anyone visited a chicken factory (sorry, farm) lately? You’ll never eat KFC again if you do.

I hope all those people complaining and demonstrating about cruelty to animals are actually walking the talk and are or becoming vegetarians.

If there were no meat eaters there would be no market for meat, live or otherwise.

And yes, just in case you are wondering, I am a vegetarian.