Most voyages carrying livestock out of Australia sailed without an observer, with half of those ships claiming they had insufficient space for an extra person
Data presented to Senate estimates last week showed independent observers boarded just 11 of 78 eligible live export voyages between May and the end of December last year. That is despite the government clearly telling vessel operators to expect observers on any eligible voyages.In 33 of the 67 eligible voyages that did not take observers, vessel operators told the government they simply didn’t have sufficient space on board for an extra person.
“Each vessel has limited accommodation and it’s not the intent of the policy to displace crew that might be needed for the operation of the voyage and day-to-day management of the livestock,” a spokesperson said.In Senate estimates last week, the department said it was investigating whether there was a “pattern” about why there was not enough space for observers on live export ships.
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said the “live export industry is obviously taking the government for a ride”.
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