Cattle industry launches class action against Federal Government, seeking compensation over live export ban

Updated

Industries involved in the live cattle trade have launched a class action against the Federal Government that will likely seek hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation.

The class action filed in the Federal Court yesterday will be open to anyone who suffered losses because of the Government's suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia in 2011.

The industry said the suit, which will be fought by law firm Minter Ellison, was being launched after three years of trying unsuccessfully to negotiate its claim with the Federal Government.

Lead applicant Emily Brett from Waterloo Station, near the West Australian and Northern Territory border, said while the ban lasted a month, the impact for the industry lasted much longer.

"It's still going now," she said.

"We lost so much money and incurred so many costs because of that one decision.

"They're not costs that we've been able to recoup, they're not costs that we've been able to get back."

Following Four Corners' revelations of shocking animal cruelty in 12 Indonesian abattoirs in June 2011, the Federal Government ordered a shutdown of the live export trade to Indonesia.

As a result, the once booming trade was brought to a halt.

Ms Brett said it was a knee-jerk reaction with devastating consequences for businesses across northern Australia.

"It was just such a quick decision made to try and look as though the government was doing something," she said.

"But in effect it just had a crippling effect on anyone involved in the industry and people involved in businesses that supply products to the industry... everyone was affected by it."

Action likely to involve a range of industries

Now the industry is taking its case for compensation to the Federal Court in an open class action that is likely to include the full breadth of industry players, from major corporates to smaller family-run pastoral stations.

In Queensland, Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter says he believes the previous government failed its 'duty of care' and has a clear case to answer, while AgForce has described the ban as 'reckless'.

Minter Ellison's existing group of clients covers a range of industries that support the live export trade and the class action will be open to anyone affected by the ban.

Businesses such as Road Trains of Australia - one of the largest trucking companies involved in the live export trade - may also be eligible to join.

Road Trains of Australia managing director David Jones said his business was still recovering.

"Financially it was very tough... all the banks hated us," Mr Jones said.

"We were a business at risk... there was a lot of people that sort of left the industry, managers and drivers, so we had to tighten our belt very quickly and try and survive."

It is even possible businesses in Indonesia affected by the ban could be eligible to join the class action.

While it is still not clear how many parties will join, the claim against the Federal Government could go into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Australia's largest cattle company, Australian Agricultural Company, has already put its damages from the live export ban at more than $50 million.

At Waterloo Station, the Brett family felt the costs of the ban almost immediately.

Ms Brett said the ban hit just before the station was due to finalise a major cattle sale they had been counting on to cover items they had already had to buy for the property.

"We didn't know when we wouldn't be able to pay those bills," she said.

"I can't explain how stressful it was on all of us, on the whole family, not knowing... that we'd have to go through all of that and tell those companies that we wouldn't be able to pay those bills and we didn't know when."

Evaluation finds Ludwig went beyond recommendations

Minter Ellison has sought advice on the case from retired Judge Roger Gyles QC.

In his evaluation of the draft statement of claim filed to the Federal Court, he said the action had a "meaningful prospect of liability being established".

His report traced the events from when the then agriculture minister Joe Ludwig, made his first order on June 2 banning the trade to 12 Indonesian abattoirs, to his blanket ban on all live exports to Indonesia five days later.

Mr Gyles stated the "fundamental difficulty" with the minister's second decision was that he departed from the first order "without any apparent basis" and "with extreme urgency and secrecy without explanation".

He said Mr Ludwig also apparently made the decision "regardless of the extraordinary adverse consequences that would follow" and went "beyond anything recommended by the Department [of Agriculture]."

He wrote that there was a "substantial chance" that Mr Ludwig's blanket ban on the trade would be considered unreasonable.

Ms Brett hopes her family would be able to recoup some of the losses from the live export ban but said she was disappointed the matter had ended up in court.

"I think it would have been much better to sort this out privately and we certainly didn't want it to go down this path," she said.

"It's a shame that it's had to happen but that's the way it is."

Mr Gyles indicated a judge assessing the case may order the parties to mediate.

Fighting fund backs court case

Chairman of the Australian Farmers Fighting Fund (AFFF), Hugh Nivision, supported legal action against the Government.

"I think these are the sort of cases that the AFFF was set up for, individual farmers who by themselves are unable to try and take on the likes of government who've made a bad decision," Mr Nivision said.

"So the AFFF can step in with funding and help them progress these cases and fight for compensation for when they've been wronged," he said.

The AFFF, set up in 1985 originally to fight industrial disputes, has allocated $800,000 towards the cattle farmers' case.

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, rural, livestock, animal-welfare, international-aid-and-trade, courts-and-trials, australia, indonesia, wa, nt, qld

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