Australia to ‘punish’ RI soon for inhumane cattle treatment

The Australian government will likely impose sanction on Indonesia in response to cruel treatment of exported cattle at 12 Indonesian slaughterhouses as featured in television footage on Australia’s ABC network.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said he did not know what sort of “punishment” would be imposed, even after meeting Australian Ambassador Greg Moriarty in the afternoon.

“They only hinted that the implementation would take place tomorrow. I do not know their decision and how it would impact on cattle stocks in Indonesia,” he said Tuesday.

However, he said the Australian government may not permanently suspend live cattle exports to Indonesia because Australia would experience a great loss.

“I cannot give figures but the cattle trade between Indonesia and Australia is clearly worth trillions of rupiah,” he added.

As of May 31 this year, Indonesia imported 150,000 live cattle. Indonesia’s demand for imported cattle this year is estimated at 600,000.