I recently returned from a trip up to Townsville and Dinmore in Queensland where I interviewed meat workers (seen in the video above) who are now either unemployed or have had their shifts cut right back due to the live export trade.
With so much livestock being exported offshore local abattoirs are struggling to keep their doors open and unemployed meat workers are now trying to survive on government handouts and donations.
In Townsville I watched as truck after truck, loaded with cattle, drove straight past the local abattoir. One local meat worker, who had just lost her job, told me that the export vessel docked in the harbour was not only exporting cattle, it was exporting the jobs of approximately 250 people who had just been stood down.
Another man I spoke to who lost his job at the local abattoir is now struggling just to keep his family afloat. His fiancé, who is also pregnant, has now had to go back into the workforce to try to support their growing family. With no money for food or bills, no fuel in the car, debt collectors breathing down his neck and relying on donations to survive, life is becoming increasingly tough.
“Lately it’s been getting pretty bad... we’ve even had to go down to the local community centre and grab food vouchers... You start to appreciate things like that when people donate food and money vouchers so you can live,” he said.
Shift cut backs and job losses at the processing plant in Dinmore now have workers pondering the future of the Australian meat processing industry. Dinmore is one of the largest processing plants in the area, so if it is feeling the effects of the live export trade then there is little hope for the smaller ones.
One woman who has been working in the Dinmore plant for the past 10 years told me she has never seen the meat processing industry in such an abysmal state.
“Every boat of cattle that leave this county, leave the Australian worker and I know what it feels like without work...it’s no good saying that the live cattle export doesn’t contribute, it certainly does. Because it’s just got worse and worse,” she said. With a daughter who has a terminal illness and needs a surgery that could potentially save her life, this woman courageously sat and gave a first-hand account of how the live export trade is affecting her life and many others who are now in the same boat.
The above video is just a small collection of interviews I conducted – each one had a harrowing story to tell. Each one is now suffering due to the live export trade.
Freelance Journalist - Reuben Brand
With so much livestock being exported offshore local abattoirs are struggling to keep their doors open and unemployed meat workers are now trying to survive on government handouts and donations.
In Townsville I watched as truck after truck, loaded with cattle, drove straight past the local abattoir. One local meat worker, who had just lost her job, told me that the export vessel docked in the harbour was not only exporting cattle, it was exporting the jobs of approximately 250 people who had just been stood down.
Another man I spoke to who lost his job at the local abattoir is now struggling just to keep his family afloat. His fiancé, who is also pregnant, has now had to go back into the workforce to try to support their growing family. With no money for food or bills, no fuel in the car, debt collectors breathing down his neck and relying on donations to survive, life is becoming increasingly tough.
“Lately it’s been getting pretty bad... we’ve even had to go down to the local community centre and grab food vouchers... You start to appreciate things like that when people donate food and money vouchers so you can live,” he said.
Shift cut backs and job losses at the processing plant in Dinmore now have workers pondering the future of the Australian meat processing industry. Dinmore is one of the largest processing plants in the area, so if it is feeling the effects of the live export trade then there is little hope for the smaller ones.
One woman who has been working in the Dinmore plant for the past 10 years told me she has never seen the meat processing industry in such an abysmal state.
“Every boat of cattle that leave this county, leave the Australian worker and I know what it feels like without work...it’s no good saying that the live cattle export doesn’t contribute, it certainly does. Because it’s just got worse and worse,” she said. With a daughter who has a terminal illness and needs a surgery that could potentially save her life, this woman courageously sat and gave a first-hand account of how the live export trade is affecting her life and many others who are now in the same boat.
The above video is just a small collection of interviews I conducted – each one had a harrowing story to tell. Each one is now suffering due to the live export trade.
Freelance Journalist - Reuben Brand
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