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Good afternoon, everybody.
Great privilege to be here with you this afternoon.
And to perhaps talk on the topic from the
Elders point of view.
And the Elders point of view is not as a producer, not as a
regulator, but really as our tradition has been, as an
old-fashioned stock and station agent.
And as you're aware, I think most of you, we're an iconic
part of Australian agriculture.
We've been around for nearly 175 years.
And livestock has been part and parcel of that history
right across Australia.
I often tell little anecdotes about Elders.
And if I can, with just a couple of moments, to fill in
the way through.
It was Elders, one of the Elders brothers, Thomas
Elders, that actually introduced the camels to
Australia, to open up the outback.
And not many of you will know this, but in fact, the
international size of a wool bale was determined here in
Australia by the weight that a camel could carry.
And it was determined that the camel could carry two wool
bales, and that was how the size was actually determined
on the way through.
And of course, the great Afghan biscuit, we claim
credit for that on the way through as well.
We touch livestock in almost every part of Australia.
We touch almost every producer, and have done at one
stage or another.
Every feedlot, every saleyard, every live exporter, every
meat processor across the country.
With our 250-odd branches, we deal with something in the
order of about 75 saleyards on a weekly or fortnightly basis
and the 30-odd major abattoirs that still exist in Australia.
In an average year, we're responsible for trading sheep
to the extent of probably nine to ten million sheep get
traded through our books, two million head of cattle.
Last year 175,000 head of cattle
went out in live export.
And we run feed lots where we're running, on average,
anything up to 40,000 heads.
So we actually have a fairly significant part to play in
livestock business here in Australia.
We act not only as an agent-- in other words, buying and
selling on behalf of others-- but also as a
principal in our own right.
So we buy and sell livestock ourselves on the way through.
Animal welfare, to give human and considerate treatment of
animals, is fundamental to our business.
And the way I always feel, when you see so many of our
clients have multiple generations that have worked
on properties, when you grow up with animals, you have the
right attitude towards animals on the way through.
And most of our folk that work in our business come from some
form of rural background, in one shape, form, or another.
The outcome that we achieve around livestock is a mixture
of values, a mixture of the culture that is created within
the company with the policies and the
processes that we follow.
And that's really trying to take a very holistic view on
the way through.
Because in reality, it doesn't matter how much policy that
you put in place, how many procedures you put in place.
Unless you have the right values in your people and you
create the right culture so that people will follow, you
won't actually end up with the right outcome, at
the end of the day.
In terms of our network operations--
and we divide our business, really, into the trading
businesses, which covers the live export
trade and our feedlots.
But in terms of their network businesses, really around what
happens on a day-to-day basis in terms of saleyards.
They have clients in terms of dispatching and receiving
livestock, in terms of selling directly into processes,
selling directly into feedlots, to the live export,
and obviously in transporting livestock around the country
in one shape, form, or another.
I suppose the basis of that is really around the principles
of fit to load, around the Australian animal welfare
standards that are in place.
And again, creating that culture around people who take
responsibility for what they do in ensuring that those
people are both competent and well-trained in
everything we do.
Elders, as an organisation, continues to invest in the
industry and invest in the people.
We have a very successful and ongoing traineeship programme,
in terms of bringing people into the industry.
And we spend a lot of time and effort in training those
people to make sure that we have the right standards
within the organisation, right across the board.
In terms of the international operations, we've talked a
little bit about ESCAS as we've gone through today.
And of course, it's an abbreviation we knew nothing
about two years ago.
But it is around, again, making sure of the existence
and the measurement of the internationally accepted
animal welfare standards, and Michael talked about so
before, and in which Australia actually play a leading role.
It's around the traceability of animals and in respect of
individual animals right the way through the process.
It's around having the formal contractual control over the
supply chain, which is really important.
And the presentation of the independent audits that
actually go with that on the way through.
That means inside our organisation, we actually have
about 100 supply chains but we actually have to manage.
They go into Indonesia, Israel, and Japan.
That involves about 13 customers, about 38 feedlots,
and about 58 abattoirs.
So there's those variations as to where the animals go on the
way through.
The live export standards that we operate cover, of course,
sourcing and on-farm preparation of the animals
before transport.
The land transport of those animals
to a point of dispatch.
Management of livestock in registered premises--
in other words, in the quarantine facilities
generally prior to export.
Vessel preparation and loading.
Onboard management of livestock on the way through.
And of course, air transport of animals as well.
And we are still involved in the air transport of animals
into certain markets.
It's the most economic and commercial way of that
actually happening.
So over the last year, there's been about 100,000 animals
under our care going to Indonesia.
Of that, regretfully, there has been 13 deaths.
But it brings it into perspective what a relatively
small number that is.
And in terms of the long-haul, which is the breeder markets,
our fatality rate is 0.33% of 1%.
So again, a relatively low number.
But I think all of us would agree that if we could reduce
both of those numbers to zero, we would all be very, very
happy, from both an ethical and a
commercial point of view.
In terms of what is our outtake on ESCAS, I think the
industry as a whole is actually very, very supportive
of ESCAS and its objectives.
And I know for a fact that the DAFF and ALEC, which is the
industry body, are meeting for a full-day concentration and
workshop on, I think it is the 3rd of April, where they'll to
refine it from there.
It does involve significant investment on part of live
exporters, and that is not only an upfront investment but
obviously an ongoing investment.
Every new supply chain needs to be registered and managed
on an appropriate way.
The implementation of ESCAS is hardly something that we as a
trading partner, without our near and far neighbours, can
be proud about.
And it has certainly damaged Australia's trading reputation
in a number of places.
And we talk about sovereign risk in other countries, but
the sovereign risk and the damage to that for Australia,
in the way the Indonesian ban was put in place, it cannot be
discounted.
ESCAS, by definition, at the moment is punitive.
It punishes poor performance but in no way rewards
excellence on the way through.
Certainly, Elders has worked very, very hard to exceed all
the standards, in terms of, for example, the amount of
fodder carried on ships from export and out of different
markets, in terms of carrying Australian fodder, in terms of
quarantine periods that we use, in terms of the staff
that carried the training, and the vets that are put onto the
ships, and in terms of putting animal welfare officers on the
ground at both ends on the way through.
So certainly, we have been trying to build within our
organisation a much higher level of performance.
And that is demanded by ESCAS, but at the end of the day,
there's no commercial reward for that.
And one needs to be fearful of the minor non-compliance
issues that can have wide-ranging implications.
So to give you an example, recently in Indonesia, we had
a small truck leave a feedlot to take six
cattle to an abattoir.
Three of the cattle were Indonesian-bred and three were
Australian-bred.
The truck was hijacked by a group of armed men.
The driver was stripped, pistol-whipped,
and tied to a tree.
And the cattle truck was duly dispatched and stolen.
The truck was retrieved.
Most of the people involved were actually arrest.
The driver survived, and all the rest of it.
But the cattle were never retrieved, which of course
produces a breach within ESCAS because we don't have total
control over the cattle all the way through.
And that, in its own right, creates a significant amount
of administrative burden.
And I'm not sure that there is any way that any regulation is
ever going to cope with that form of noncompliance on the
way through.
In terms of just our conclusions around the animal
welfare question, we have and always will continue to place
animal welfare and the welfare at the forefront of both
domestic and our international operations.
It's part and parcel of everything we do.
Again, it's not only the right thing to do ethically, but
it's the right thing to do commercially.
And that's what our business has been
built on over 175 years.
ESCAS, it's well-intended.
It has industry support.
But it needs refinement and improvement.
And I think that the industry and DAFF can work together
cooperatively to achieve that.
Our international trading relationships, because of
ESCAS and the way it's been implemented, need some
significant work, which we as an
exporter don't see happening.
And Elders as an organisation will
continue to lead by example.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]