'Cowboy culture': Department of Agriculture's costly live export legal bungle

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 5 years ago

'Cowboy culture': Department of Agriculture's costly live export legal bungle

By Latika Bourke

Taxpayers will have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs after a court case collapsed because the Department of Agriculture admitted it had wrongly issued a permit to the controversial live exporter Emanuel Exports.

The department, which is already the subject of a major review over its past regulation of the live export trade, admitted its error in court documents filed in response to a case brought by Animals Australia.

The court case surrounded the department's decision to grant a permit to Emanuel Exports on June 6 this year, two months after horrific footage showing the mass deaths of sheep suffering severe heat stress on board the Awassi Express last year.

The permit was granted by assistant secretary Narelle Clegg who made headlines when she cried during Senate estimates questioning about the Awassi Express horror earlier this year.

But in a hugely embarrassing bungle for the embattled department, government lawyer Matthew Blunn told the Federal Court Ms Clegg did not have the proper authority to issue the permit and her decision was "an error of law."

"The First Respondent concedes the allegation....that as a consequence of the mistake the decision-maker had no power to make the decision," Mr Blunn said.

Loading

"The First Respondent also concedes....that, by reason of the delegation mistake, the purported decision to grant [the permit]....involved an error of law, was contrary to law or involved jurisdictional error."

A trial had been set down for this Thursday and Friday but will now no longer go ahead because of the department's admission.

Advertisement

The concession will be costly with the department forced to foot legal costs for both Animals Australia and Emanuel Exports, which Fairfax Media understands will be worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A departmental spokesman described the mistake as a "one-off, technical deficiency".

"A technical deficiency in the delegation of powers to the decision maker was identified, and the parties agreed that the decisions made in relation to the export permit were invalid on that basis alone."

"The department maintains that the decision maker properly considered the health and welfare of the livestock in granting the subject permit," the spokesperson said.

"This was a one off case - there are no questions around the approvals of any previous voyages."

Animals Australia, which is campaigning for an end to the live export trade, said the error raised further questions about the department's ability to regulate the trade.

    “This admission of legal error by the department heightens existing concerns about their ability to regulate the live export trade,” said Animals Australia’s legal counsel, Shatha Hamade.

    Loading

    “That a department currently under review could allow 58,000 sheep to be exported on the basis of a legally-flawed export permit decision adds to their litany of regulatory failures.”

    Labor's agriculture spokesman, Joel Fitzgibbon, said the Turnbull government’s management of the live sheep trade was dysfunctional.

    "Despite his feigned anger following the Awassi Express footage, [Agriculture Minister] David Littleproud has performed no better than [former agriculture minister] Barnaby Joyce," he said.

    Loading

    "Joyce, of course, created a cowboy culture within the industry and made it clear that he expected a light touch approach from the regulator. Many, including sheep farmers, are now paying a heavy price”.

    The department's conduct in regulating the live trade is the subject of a review commissioned by Agriculture Minister David Littleproud. It is due next month.

    Mr Littleproud ordered the inquiry after the footage from the Awassi express emerged.

    The department cleared the shipment of any breaches even though it recorded a death rate of nearly double what was considered acceptable.

    Since replacing Barnaby Joyce in the agriculture portfolio, Mr Littleproud has strongly criticised Emanuel Exports, describing it as "bullshit" that sheep were dying at sea, in conditions shown on board the Awassi Express.

    Loading

    Mr Littleproud does not support banning the trade.

    A spokesman for the minster said the minister had imposed tougher animal welfare standards on the industry.

    “Minister Littleproud swiftly called the McCarthy review and instantly implemented its key recommendation of a 28 per cent stocking reduction," he said.

    "He also implemented independent observers on every boat gathering information daily and sending it to the regulator. Labor proposed to ban the trade forever, wreck trading relationships with key partners and cost farmers an important market which could never be recovered.”

    Former cabinet minister Sussan Ley is leading the charge to have the trade banned outright and has presented a private member's bill to Parliament.

    Since the exposure of the Awassi Express voyage, the department has suspended two of Emanuel Exports' three exports licences and is investigating alleged historical breaches of animal welfare standards.

    The second suspension was made last week after Fairfax Media revealed director Nicholas Daws had applied to use one of the company's sister licences to resume exporting in an attempt to sidestep the freezing of its main licence.

    The department had been set to approve the application, according to sources, but instead issued a second suspension after Emanuel Export's application was exposed by the media.

    Most Viewed in Politics

    Loading