Meat and Livestock Australia chairman and north Queensland cattle producer Don Heatley says more must be done to prevent the shocking examples of animal cruelty depicted on the Four Corners program this week.

In a press release issued by MLA this afternoon, Mr Healey said that he, like all cattle producers, found the Animals Australia footage highly distressing.

"It is completely unacceptable that any animal could be treated in this way,” he said.

The press release reads:

Mr Heatley said MLA, on behalf of Australia’s producers and alongside LiveCorp and Government, has been working to improve the treatment of our animals in Indonesia.

“Significant improvements have been made in the shipping and feedlotting of our animals in Indonesia, however our efforts at the point of processing have clearly been unsuccessful in some facilities and we need to do more.”

MLA supports the Australian Government’s action to suspend the supply of Australian cattle to those facilities where cruel practices have been identified.

“Having worked in the market, we are confident that the footage shown is not representative of the manner in which the majority of Australian animals are processed in Indonesia.”

He said the industry is urgently investigating every avenue to ensure that all Australian cattle in Indonesia are handled in line with the expectations of the Australian beef industry and the community.

“We support additional measures such as the introduction of controlled systems that will only receive Australian cattle where appropriate welfare standards can be guaranteed.

“As part of this process we are committed to the accelerated use of stunning devices.
“Industry organisations will fully support the Government’s investigation into the practices shown in the recent footage.

“For our efforts to be completely effective, we need the strong support of Australian and Indonesian authorities to improve and enforce animal welfare standards.”

“We must do everything in our power to get this right. This industry is vital to Australia’s rural and regional communities and the livelihood of beef producers across Australia, who will not tolerate cruelty to their animals.”