The WA Branch has formed an alliance with the People Against Cruelty in Animal Transport (PACAT) in an attempt to secure public attention and focus on the cruelty of live animal exports. The strategy of forming such an alliance is to present both sides of the argument to the public in respect to the cruelty of the live shipping trade and the job and industry destroying factors of live shipping and the effect on the ongoing viability of the processing industry.

A possible avenue to curtail and/or restrict live shipping was achieved recently when the WA Branch, after lobbying various other Unions was successful in having a resolution passed at the recent ALP State Conference, to form a Meat Industry Task Force.

The Minister for Primary Industry, Kim Chance supported the resolution and is now charged with the responsibility of forming the Task Force. The resolution put forward was framed in the following way: 

• Labor will establish an Industry Task Force comprising of government, employee and employer representatives to develop strategies to address:
• The need for long-term sustainable  employment in the industry;
• The need to develop an industry wide  marketing plan aimed at increasing the export of processed meat;
• The viability of establishing a quota system;
• The need to develop a package of  other measures of assistance to  promote the long-term viability of  our meat processing industry; and
• Other measures that will promote and encourage improved competitive  position of the process meat industry vis a vie live meat exports.