Labor will consider strengthening Australia’s independent animal welfare body following shocking revelations of welfare breaches and oversight failings in the nation’s export abattoirs.
A Guardian Australia investigation revealed on Saturday that government-employed veterinarians working inside the nation’s export abattoirs had repeatedly blown the whistle on “profound problems” with the system.
Leaked documents showed the whistleblower vets, employed by the federal agriculture department, made internal and external complaints over a period of four years about oversight failings they said were compromising animal welfare and potentially breaching Australia’s obligations to its major trading partners.
The failings included inaction on shocking cases of animal cruelty, an understaffing crisis allegedly leaving abattoirs unmonitored for long stretches, and the weakening of vets’ powers, including restrictions on their ability to conduct inspections of animals up-close.
Leaked documents also showed that a mass death of 103 sheep during transport to an export abattoir went unpunished by the state regulator.
Prior to the Guardian’s investigation, the Australian Alliance for Animals had secured a commitment from Labor to strengthen independent oversight of export abattoirs using the Inspector-General for Animal Welfare and Live Animal Exports, a body set up after a series of scandals involving mass deaths during live export.
In a pre-election policy appraisal document, the Alliance said Labor had promised: “If re-elected, Labor will expand the role for the Inspector General to include export abattoirs to provide additional assurances to our trading partners, noting the responsibility of states in managing these sites.”
Guardian Australia approached Labor’s campaign on Saturday to confirm that it remained committed to the pledge.
It is understood Labor is committed to considering an expansion of the inspector-general’s role, noting the primary responsibility for overseeing export abattoirs sits with states and territories.
A government spokesperson also pointed to a recent joint agriculture ministers’ National Statement on Animal Welfare and the recently renewed animal welfare strategy as signs that “animal welfare is a priority for Australia”.
“This strategy will also maintain Australia’s commitment to modern, sustainable, science and evidence-based animal welfare practices, which will support increased access to overseas markets while strengthening the reputation of our animal and agricultural industries with trading partners,” the spokesperson said.
The alliance policy director, Jed Goodfellow, described Labor’s commitment as “a necessary and commonsense measure”.
“The Alliance has been calling for the functions of the Inspector General to be expanded to export abattoirs since the entity was created, so we congratulate Labor for making this commitment,” he said.
“It has the potential to aid oversight but it must be backed by sufficient funding to ensure it has teeth, otherwise the Department will ignore it.
“Ultimately though, animal welfare must be separated from the Department of Agriculture if it is to receive the priority the community expects.”
The Greens deputy leader, Mehreen Faruqi, said she was shocked and sickened by the investigation’s revelations, saying it showed an “insurmountable conflict of interest” in the oversight regime.
“The welfare of animals will never be the priority for a department that exists to promote and protect the industry,” she said. “Cruelty cannot be allowed to remain part of the cost of doing business.
“We urgently need an independent Office of Animal Welfare and strong national laws with enforcement to protect animals. The Greens will introduce a bill to clean up these industries and bring transparency, so this never happens again.”
The agriculture department has rejected suggestions that its oversight of export abattoirs is compromised or that it suffers a conflict of interest in its dual roles of promoting the industry and monitoring animal welfare.
It denied it suffers an understaffing crisis and says it has enough staff to oversee all export abattoirs that require a veterinarian presence. It also rejected allegations that vets had been banned from entering pens to conduct up-close ante-mortem inspections of animals.
“The department has a robust regulatory framework and takes regulatory action, where appropriate, for breaches of animal welfare requirements,” a spokesperson said.
