Update: Green Senator Lee Rhiannon yesterday afternoon posted responses to the 13 intial questions posed by NT cattle producer Jo Bloomfield on the senator's Ban Live Exports Now Facebook page, which can be viewed by clicking here

Earlier article:

A Northern Territory cattle producer has challenged Greens senator Lee Rhiannon to debate the consequences of a live export ban on Facebook, after the politician created a new page on the social networking site calling for the trade to be abolished.

On Saturday NT producer Jo Bloomfield posted 13 questions on the Senator’s “Ban Live Exports Now” Facebook page, which was established last Thursday.

The questions challenge the senator to substantiate recent claims about the trade and ask the Greens to explain their policies for managing the social, financial and economic fallout that would result across large areas of rural Australia if their bid to ban the trade is successful.

The page administrators added new posts yesterday promoting a national anti-live export rally on October 6 coordinated by Animals Australia and the national “Be Kind to Animals Week” from October 1-7.

However, despite also posting a message on Monday assuring page followers that the senator would answer Saturday’s questions by Tuesday, as of this morning no responses had yet been provided.

Mrs Bloomfield last night posted a further 12 questions and has challenged the senator to a four-week debate on the page, including an invitation for the senator to agree to the rules of the debate.

The page has become a flashpoint for social media debate over the future of the livestock export trade, with industry supporters using the site to challenge ban-advocates to substantiate claims made against the livestock export industry.

To view the Facebook page click here