The disturbing allegations that Animals Australia discussed offering ship workers $1000 for footage of poor animal welfare on live export shipments has left livestock producers fuming.
One of those cattle producers is Marcus Curr from Yelvertoft Station, 100km north west of Mount Isa.
Mr Curr believes these latest allegations of paid doctored footage should be on the front page of every Australian newspaper.
“We as an industry should get on the front foot – for as serious as it is – it is not getting enough media coverage,” he said.
“These people need to be exposed for who they are and what their agenda is, and why are trying to wreck an industry.
“We should stop sitting back and taking what they hand out.”
Mr Curr said the latest allegations were a great opportunity for producers to put their side of the story to the average person.
He said people living in urban areas were largely ill-informed about the live export trade and now was the perfect opportunity to educate the public.
“The live export industry is a great industry but we have to put up with a lot of crap from these activists, as these people will stop at nothing.
“You go down to Brisbane and everyone tells you how bad live exports are and that we should be killing those animals at home.
“They don’t have any idea – it’s a completely different market.”
Mr Curr and his wife Shelley run 16,000 cattle on Yelvertoft Station and on another two properties in the Julia Creek district.
They target both the southern markets and the northern live export markets.
The couple sell between 3000 to 4000 steers and cull heifers a year in the 280 to 360kg weight range to the live export market through the Port of Darwin.