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Step-by-step
Where does
your MP stand lobbying
on live export?
toolkit
For all caring Australians
opposed to the cruelty of
live animal export.
How to arrange a meeting with your local MP
Factsheets
Petition to end live exports
LOBBYING TOOLKIT // Meet your MP LOBBYING TOOLKIT // Meet your MP
Arranging Your Meeting //
Meet
Find your MP Follow up with a call
It is easy for MPs to hide behind party policies You can find contact details for your MP’s office with Demonstrate how important getting a meeting is
in written communication. A face to face this link: www.BanLiveExport.com/mp to you by following up your letter with a phone
meeting enables you to seek their personal call. Simply confirm that they received your letter
views and receive a direct response to your Put it in writing and tell them that you are looking forward to their
Your
request that they support legislation that will Even if you call your MP’s office, they are likely to ask response.
you to put your request for a meeting in a letter, email
see live export phased out over three years. or fax. Your message doesn’t need to be long. Simply Be persistent
This is an eminently reasonable piece of include: Sometimes securing a meeting with an MP can
legislation that gives producers time to adjust • who you are take persistence. If you haven’t received a response
their business focus. • the fact you live in their electorate within 5 days of writing, then follow up with
MP
• what you wish to discuss: i.e. live export and the another phone call. Ask to speak to their personal
Bills to ban the trade assistant or diary manager. And if at first your
A personal meeting also provides the • that you request a meeting before August 18th request is rejected, don’t give up. Every letter and
opportunity to: (the date set for the vote) phone call you make to try to secure a meeting is in
• learly emphasise your concerns and
C • who else, if anyone, will be attending the meeting itself a reminder to them that people are concerned
with you, and about live export. By persisting and being friendly
views directly to your MP. and respectful, you’ve got a good chance of
With the Bills to end live export to • your contact details for them to respond and
• et the record straight on some of the
S arrange the meeting. securing a meeting.
be voted on in Parliament on August
18th, it is essential that elected most common misconceptions about the
representatives hear that their live export trade (with a little help from the
constituents want them to support a enclosed fact sheets), and
ban. The best way to leave a strong and • o provide your MP with investigation
T
Before Your Meeting //
lasting impression with your MP is to footage (details on how to get this If you can - gather support: Local Petition Here are a few things that would be very helpful to know:
meet with them personally to ask them footage are below) to remind them what There is no better way to show your MP that many • which party they are in
to support this legislation. supporting live exports means for animals. people in their electorate are concerned about live • how to pronounce their name
export than by starting a local petition calling on your • how to address them (eg. Minister, Dr, Mr, Ms)
MP to support the legislation. Even people signing • how long they’ve been in Parliament
We understand that meeting with your MP from your own street will create an impression. • whether they hold any position in Parliament
might feel a bit daunting, but they are just Enclosed in this pack is a petition that you can • whether they are on any relevant committees, and
ordinary people, whose responsibility it is to photocopy and use to gather support. Already some • whether they have stated a public position on live
represent the views of their constituents in 300,000 Australians have signed petitions to ban live export.
their electorates. They know that they have export. So many people in your community will be
willing to sign. Get footage to provide to your MP
been voted in by people like you – and that A picture speaks a thousand words, and when
their future political career depends on the Know your facts confronted with footage of the brutal fate that awaits
support of people like you – therefore they will The enclosed fact sheet will give you a good Australian animals in the live export industry, nobody
want to listen to your concerns. background on live animal export. Don’t worry, you can deny the cruelty. So having investigation footage
don’t need to know everything! However, you will feel to provide to your MP is an important way to remind
more confident and get your message across better if them about the urgent need to act on this issue. In
This simple step-by-step guide will arm you you have an understanding of the issue. your meeting you can ask your MP for their personal
with all the information and tools you need to commitment to watch this footage.
have a productive meeting. There are a number of claims that the industry and
some politicians commonly use to defend live export. If you know how to burn a video file to a DVD, please
The enclosed fact sheet will give you good answers to use the below link to download footage from our
address these points. most recent investigations in Indonesia (March 2011)
and Kuwait (November 2010) to provide to your MP.
Get to know your MP www.banliveexport.com/lobbying-video
To get the most out of your meeting it’s a good idea
to do a little research on your MP. You can find out If you would like a copy posted to you please phone
information about your MP through their party’s Animals Australia (03 9329 6333) or RSPCA Australia
website, or they may even have their own site. (02 6282 8300).
LOBBYING TOOLKIT // Meet your MP LOBBYING TOOLKIT // Meet your MP
At Your Meeting // After Your Meeting //
Team up? more local support you can show for your position, Follow up Time to Lobby Your Senators
If you have friends in your electorate who also feel the greater the impact your meeting will have. Send a follow up email/letter to your MP, thanking So you’ve met with your MP and are wondering how
passionately about live export, then you might like them for the meeting. Outline your key message else to support the campaign? MPs are not the only
to invite them to come with you. A group of roughly Get a commitment again, include any further information you promised politicians who will have a say in whether the Bills get
2 to 4 people is ideal – but it is also absolutely fine if You want your MP to go away from the meeting to send to them and tell them that you look forward passed. The animals also need the support of Senators
you want to attend this meeting on your own. You thinking about live export, and not to put it out of to hearing from them once they’ve watched the if they are to have hope for a kinder future.
will just need to advise your MP’s office in advance of mind. So as you’re finishing the conversation provide investigation footage.
all those attending the meeting. them with your DVD of investigation footage and ask The below link will help you find Senators in your
them to guarantee that they will watch this footage Tell us how you went state, so that you can send an email, write a letter, and
First impressions count and get back to you to offer their honest personal We would love to hear how you went! If you were able phone their office urging them to support the Bills to
First impressions can make all the difference to how response to what they have watched. to find out your MP’s personal position on live export, ban live export: www.BanLiveExport.com/senators
well your message is received. When you first meet please let us know. We’d also welcome any other
your MP, introduce yourself and thank them for their Key issues and questions to cover feedback or impressions on the experience and the If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call
time. Speak clearly and keep good eye contact. While • Live export is a cruel trade. We can never justify tools we’ve provided. Please send any feedback to: Animals Australia (03 9329 6333)or RSPCA Australia
your passion for the cause will help convey your providing animals to countries where there are feedback@banliveexport.com (02 6282 8300).
concern and leave a lasting impression, remember to no laws to protect them from cruelty.
balance that passion with a polite manner. • I know your party’s policy on live export, but I If you’ve made it through these steps and met with
want to know: What is your personal position on your MP, then we’d like to extend a big “Thank You”.
Have a clear message live export? You have provided a strong voice for animals.
Before going into the meeting with your MP, make • Australians and your own constituents
sure you are clear on the key message/questions overwhelmingly want live export to end - will you
you want to get across. In the lead up to voting on be supporting the Bill to end live export which
the Bills it is important for politicians to know their very reasonably allow for a phase out over 3
electorate wants them to support a ban on live years?
export. • If the answer is ‘no’. Ask them why, as your
political representative, they won’t be honestly
The all important question reflecting the position of their constituents on
While both major parties in Australia support live this issue.
export, the personal opinions of politicians within • Last year, there was further evidence of terrible
these parties varies greatly. Ask your MP how they cruelty to Australian sheep documented in
feel about animal cruelty. It is highly likely that they Kuwait. Can you guarantee that our animals will
will say that they abhor it. Then ask your MP for their be protected this year?
personal position on live export and whether they • Can you guarantee that no further Australian
will support the Bills to ban live export – a trade cattle will be subjected to brutal treatment in
that is condemned by every animal welfare group Indonesia?
internationally for causing unnecessary suffering. The • Reiterate again (if required) your request for
most important part of this meeting is to establish your MP to rethink their position – and support
their personal position (not just party lines). If they the legislation to ban live export as there will be
state that they won’t support the Bill – ask them immense disappointment in the electorate if they
whether they will change their mind if they become fail to do so.
aware that the majority of their electorate wants • Provide your MP with investigation footage and
them to, so that they are accurately representing the
views of their constituents.
ask for their guarantee that they will watch it prior
to voting on the Bills to ban live export. When meeting with your
Highlight the benefits of supporting a ban Leave a positive impression
Offer compelling reasons for why they should
support an end to the trade. Highlight the fact the
At the end of your meeting – regardless of how it
went – thank your MP once again for taking the time
MP lead the conversation and
community is appalled by this cruel trade and tell to see you; ask for the business cards of any advisors
them that their constituents will support them for
taking a stand against animal cruelty. If you have
present; and re-emphasise the key point to your MP
that when the Bills come to a vote, Australians are know the facts
gathered signatures - use your local petition to counting on MPs to honestly reflect their concerns
emphasise the fact that locals support a ban. The and support an end to live export.
LOBBYING TOOLKIT // The facts LOBBYING TOOLKIT // The myths
live animal export Live exports underpin provided relating to sheep, which price. The high Australian dollar
10,000 jobs in the rural are being vigorously opposed by and slump in Japanese demand for
animal protection groups and the beef are both key factors affecting
sector //
Australian Meat Industry Council. beef prices at the moment. The
the issues This is incorrect. The vast majority
of these jobs – producers, truck
drivers, stockmen etc. would
reality is that Australian producers
have been receiving premium
prices for their livestock over the
remain if animals were processed Importing countries want last year regardless of live export.
in local facilities. The only jobs live animals and freshly
specific to the live trade are in
killed meat //
Background // The Facts // exporters offices, agents, feedlots
All importing countries already
Producers in the north have
and feed manufacturers for take Australian chilled or frozen
• Since 2003 Animals Australia has conducted 8 • During the last 30 years, Australia has sent feedlots – not more than a few no other option but live
investigations: seven into the treatment of Austral- more than 160 million sheep and cattle to be meat and this figure is growing
hundred. The AMIEU (Australasian significantly each year. Last year export //
ian animals exported to the Middle East and one in slaughtered in other parts of the world, such as the Meat Industry Employees Union) sheep meat exports to the Middle The Indonesian government has
Indonesia. These investigations have consistently Middle East and South East Asia. states tens of thousands of jobs East were worth $110 million already signalled its intention to
revealed appalling animal cruelty as a routine part have been lost as a result of live more than live export. Some become self-sufficient in cattle
of the live export trade. • Depending on their destination, the journey by export. 800,000 more sheep were sent in production by 2014 – so this trade
boat can take up to 3 weeks, during which time
carcass form than live showing already has an end date on it.he
• A 2006 Animals Australia investigation in Egypt, the animals remain in cramped conditions and
the increasing willingness of the Wilkie/Xenophon Live Export
aired on 60 Minutes, resulted in a public backlash must endure all weather extremes.
By remaining in the market region to take boxed meat. This Prohibition Bills enact a phase out
that forced the government to ban the live trade
will only grow further if Australia over a three year period allowing
of sheep and severely limit the export of cattle to • Every year, thousands of animals die during the we can improve animal
wasn’t supplying the option of the development of new and
that country. journey. In 2010, just under 30,000 sheep died welfare in importing live animals. When Bahrain was expanded beef markets, giving
en route to the Middle East and 1,000 cattle died markets // unable to import enough live sheep producers time to adjust their
• Despite damning evidence of similar animal on ships. That is PR spin. Indonesia fully due to drought they entered into enterprises, and allowing for the
abuse in other countries that Australia exports revealed the live export industry’s contracts to import Australian expansion of feedlots, abattoirs
animals to, successive governments have • The majority of countries importing Australian willingness to supply animals to boxed meat instead. Indonesia has and other infrastructure.
continued to support the live export industry and animals have no laws to protect animals from the most brutal of treatment – and just increased its imports of boxed
turn a blind eye to animal suffering. cruelty. to even go so far as to facilitate it meat by 50,000 tonnes. Only the
by supplying cruel restraint boxes. wealthiest 10% of the Indonesian
• Animals Australia’s most recent investigation into • Sheep exported to the Middle East, are routinely They have no interest in animal population can afford beef – the If Australia doesn’t
the treatment of Australian cattle in Indonesia mishandled, dragged, and many have their legs welfare, only in facilitating the same demographic that has supply live animals, other
aired on 4 Corners on 30th May, 2011, sparking bound together and are thrown in the boots trade in live animals. The only refrigerators.
unprecedented public outrage and the of cars, in a region that often has temperatures importing market where there countries will //
suspension of the cattle trade to that country. hovering near 50°C in summer. have been any improvements No other country can supply
is in Jordan, where as a result of sheep of the size, type and price
• Cattle exported to Indonesia are routinely Live export is critical to that Australia can (sheep from the
Animals Australia’s work, 80% of
The Damage // treated brutally prior to slaughter, including animals are now stunned prior Australia’s economy // horn of Africa are more like goats.
being tripped to the floor by ropes. Common to slaughter. In other Middle Australia’s boxed meat exports Australia is also the only country
• Local people throughout the Middle East and South abuses documented include: eye gouging, Eastern countries animals will be each year are worth 6 times more that can supply Indonesia with the
East Asia believe that Australians approve of their being whipped, hit and kicked, having their killed whilst fully conscious despite than live exports. Sheep processed volume of disease free cattle they
treatment of animals. They have reached this logical tail broken and even having their leg tendons decades of industry involvement. domestically contribute 20% more require.
conclusion based on our willingness to provide them slashed. Similar abuse of cattle has been to the Australian economy than
with animals for slaughter for over 30 years. Rather documented in the Middle East. sheep sent overseas. It is a cruel
than inspiring desperately needed change in attitudes and unethical trade and cannot be
Religious slaughter without Australia has the best
and handling – the continued supply of Australian • The vast majority of Australian animals exported justified by any profit.
animals is reinforcing long held beliefs that their to the Middle East and South East Asian countries, stunning is allowed in shipping standards //
cruel treatment of animals is acceptable. including Indonesia, are slaughtered whilst fully Australia // Tens of thousands of animals
conscious. By law, all animals must be stunned continue to die en route to
in Australia. All cattle in Australia Live export underpins the destinations each year as a result
• The operation of Australia’s live export industry, and
the tens of thousands of animals that die en route each • The recent investigation in Indonesia revealed are either stunned prior to, or price that producers receive of failing to eat and stress related
year sets an example that profit is more important than cattle were suffering an average of 11 cuts to the immediately after the throat cut. for their livestock // diseases of the stomach. The
animal welfare and that animals are nothing more throat and often many minutes of pain, thrashing There are a small number of Beef and sheep meat prices are industry has never been able to
than chattels to be traded and slaughtered. and bellowing before losing consciousness. exemptions that have been underpinned by the global meat address this.
PETITION
calling for an end to
LIVE ANIMAL EXPORT
To my local federal MP:
We the undersigned residents call on our local federal MP to represent the concerns of your
constituents and support an end to the export of live animals for slaughter from Australia.
We believe that animals raised into Australian care should never be sent to be killed in countries where
there are no laws to protect them from cruelty. Investigations have revealed brutal treatment of
Australian exported animals is widespread and routine. By phasing out the inherently cruel live export
trade and replacing it with a meat only trade, Australia will help protect the welfare of animals, keep
jobs in Australia, and help restore our reputation as an ethical and compassionate nation.
Name (please print) Address Signature
