‘Justice delayed is justice denied’: live cattle export ban class action claimants slam Federal Court finding

Live cattle export ban class action claimants have been left frustrated by a Federal Court judge’s findings that the 2011 ban had no effect on low exports in 2012 and 2013. Former Hedland Export Depot owner Paul Brown lambasted the Federal Government’s settlement offer of $215 million as “gross”, “inadequate”, “paltry” and “bordering on negligent” for the devastating impact the six-month shutdown of the trade had on Australian pastoralists. “Our view is that was grossly inadequate and quite a paltry sum in comparison to the $600m that the class has maintained is what we lost,” he said. “The government’s $250m is based purely on 88,000 cattle that they believe wasn’t exported in 2011 — it doesn’t include any provision for compensation, for other loss of business, for mental anguish, for stress. “We’re remembering that people took their lives in this saga and have also lost their lives since 2011 and have been denied justice. “For the government to just put a monetary figure on that says it’s the 88,000 cattle and that’s it — it’s grossly inadequate.” The Federal Government, under former PM Julia Gillard, suspended Australia’s live cattle trade to Indonesia for six months after footage was shown on ABC of cattle being mistreated and slaughtered without being stunned. Australia’s pastoral industry has been at war with the Federal Government in the years since, with a class action of 300 cattle producers launched in 2014 in an attempt to claim $510 million in compensation. The Federal Court sided with the class action in 2020, saying the ban was unlawful, but lead complainant — NT-based Brett Cattle Company — is the only plaintiff to have received any compensation after the Federal Court’s finding in 2020. The ban lasted for only six months but left 88,000 cattle bound for international shores stranded. Federal Court Justice Thomas Thawley found on June 5 that live cattle exports in 2012 and 2013 were not affected by the six-month ban in 2011. The amount of compensation to be awarded to cattle producers is yet to be decided, with parties set to confer by June 18 and court orders to follow. Mr Brown said an appeal was yet to be discussed but was on the cards if there was a “negligent” outcome. “We will appeal this, we’ll put our faith in the appeals panel,” he said. Mundabullangana Station’s Michael Thompson said the 2011 ban was “devastating” and impacted the whole supply chain and trade with Indonesia. “That’s what the Judge making his ruling did not take into consideration — the damage that was done across all the markets,” he said. “It wasn’t just the northern cattle that was affected, it was the cattle across Australia. “There’s a lot of people that lost their stations and probably their farms indirectly — money can’t buy that back.” Mr Thompson said he would “ride it out to the end” and would support an appeal if the final compensation amount is not sufficient. “It’s all or nothing,” he said. Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association treasurer and class action claimant David Stoate said the matter was being watched by WA pastoralists closely. “Everyone is frustrated and would like this to be over ... but the fight has a while to go yet,” he said. “We are hoping for a good outcome, we are disappointed. It is incredibly difficult to believe those comments. “For us personally, the number of cattle we exported definitely went down.” Mr Brown said he was disappointed in Justice Thawley’s choice to not give evidence of business impact beyond 2011 any merit. “We believe that we showed plenty of evidence that clearly showed that there was an ongoing impact that was a direct result of the actions of the minister,” he said. “Justice Thawley looked at the quota reductions and said that was the impact from the move to be self-sufficient by Indonesia. “That was a move that you would think was going to have a gradual impact over a number of years, whereas for our feedlot it was an immediate impact. “We went from nearly 30,000 a year to zero . . . for a number of years.” Mr Brown has now sold his Hedland Export Depot, which he said never fully recovered after the 2011 ban. Mr Brown said it was “absurd” of the government to only look at the impact on the 88,000 cattle in 2011 and not offer compensation beyond that. “We’ve been waiting 14 years for justice,” he said. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”