Livestock processors and farmers are ramping up security and staff safety measures in the wake of a blatant declaration by extreme animal activists that they intend to break into up to 30 facilities.
Industry leaders are also calling for authorities to monitor the activities of the Farm Transparency Project given the organisation's latest campaign which openly says its members will trespass to capture footage.
The organisation's website is covered with its 'Shut Down Slaughterhouses' propaganda, in which it 'promises' to target 30 Australian slaughterhouses over 2023-24. Footage from three new Australian abattoirs is promised over the next few weeks.
"With the increasing criminalisation of those who expose legal and illegal animal abuse, we know that our work will only get harder and more dangerous," FTP founding director Chris Delforce said.
"So, before the industry comes for us, we're going to tear down every wall they put up to hide their practices from the world. We will stop them, before they stop us."
They say Australian animal slaughter can never be humane.
"Every animal whose life ends inside an Australian slaughterhouse experiences terror, pain and suffering," Mr Delforce said.
Furious peak industry group bosses say it's time for much stronger action from regulators and authorities.
"There seems to be a sense from this movement that they have the right to invade businesses in Australia utilising animal protein," Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive officer Patrick Hutchinson said.
"This is not protesting, it's law breaking and we have to stop allowing it to be portrayed as protesting in metropolitan media.
"The target appears to be small rural businesses and that is abhorrent."
Australian Pork chief executive Margo Andrae galvanised livestock supply chains when she gave evidence to politicians in a Senate estimates hearing in May about some of the tactics vegan extremists were resorting to.
They included putting International Women's Day photos of industry staff on social media labelled 'murderers', posing as tradies to get into their offices and 86 calls to the CEO's personal mobile in one hour.
She said this latest campaign was typical of the threatening, bullying behaviour long displayed by vegan activists.
She said it was fantastic to see politicians from both major parties keep their promises not to meet with activists who have broken the law.
"That's a significant move and sets a new standard," she said.
"We all need to be calling out those people because what they are doing is not ok. All livestock industries have to come together to defend our producers and supply chains.
"We have been told for years to sit quietly, or worse - have them at the table - but time's up on that approach.
"It's not a fair playing field. They want to end livestock farming in this country."
Mr Hutchinson said it was because ordinary people were "switching off from this rhetoric" that the activity of activists was escalating and had reached the point of becoming a clearly-stated intention to break the law.
He said these types of activities had nothing to do with animal welfare but rather was "Illegally obtained footage misrepresenting our industry in order to promote a position of ending livestock production."
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
