Police forced to break up protest at abattoir near Warwick

The owner of a Queensland abattoir wants activists charged after they stormed his business. But police have defended a lack of charges.

THE owner of a Queensland abattoir wants activists charged after they stormed his business, chained themselves to fixtures on the floor of the killing room and allegedly stole three sheep.

More than 20 people invaded the Carey Bros Abattoir near Warwick before dawn on Monday as part of a national day of action by animal rights activists.

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Related protests across the nation sparked dozens of arrests, with activists chaining themselves up in Melbourne’s CBD, and nine charged with trespass after storming a NSW abattoir.

The coordinated protests had the Prime Minister labelling activists “green- collared criminals” and demanding they face the full force of the law. But Queensland police say they cannot act until the abattoir’s owner files a complaint.

Protesters at an abattoir near Warwick this morning.

Police have admitted they knew protesters were planning something, and had specifically rostered on staff in the Warwick area to deal with the anticipated action, while also warning local business owners to secure their sites. Officers who were part of that operation even carried out random breath tests on activists as they made their way west.

But police say they did not know who the protesters would target until they got a call about 3.30am to say people had invaded the abattoir.

“The activists that were within the premises did have chains and padlocks,” Acting Inspector Jamie Deacon told reporters in Warwick.

He said the situation was resolved peacefully, and the protesters left of their own accord after negotiating an exit that involved the surrender of three sheep.

Police later told said that the low-level offence of trespass required a complaint in order for Queensland authorities to act.

Carey Brothers abattoir owner Greg Carey has indicated he wants the activists charged.

“They are trying to bring our primary agricultural industry to its knees using stand over tactics … this is un-Australian and harms the livelihood of many,” he told the ABC.

Police were also called to another incident at nearby Freestone, where farmer Jason Christensen said carloads of activists pulled up and scared a herd of heifers.

He said the protesters swore at his father, and told him he should be growing vegetables.

Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the states must beef-up trespass laws, so farm invaders would face serious penalties.

“If I broke into a suburban house in Melbourne or Sydney, I’d expect to be arrested, handcuffed and taken away. Breaking into a farm should be no different.”

Queensland has already announced plans to allow police to issue hefty on-the- spot fines to activists, as farmers and meat industry businesses face a spike in protest action.

EARLIER: No charges after abattoir protest

Animal rights protesters say police tailed them to a Queensland abattoir where they broke in and chained themselves up before negotiating their way out with three sheep.

No-one was arrested or charged after 19 activists invaded the Carey Bros Abattoir near Warwick before dawn on Monday.

The action was part of a national protest that also saw interstate abattoirs targeted, and arrests in Melbourne after campaigners staged a protest at a busy CBD intersection.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accused activists of an ‘indecent attack on farmers’, and says state and territory ministers must make sure they face the full force of the law.

Queensland’s Agriculture Minister Mark Furner has urged the owner of the Warwick site to complain to police so protesters can be charged.

“What they are doing is breaching the law. I’ve really had a gutful of this lot,” he told ABC radio, a day after promising new on-the-spot fines for activists who stage similar raids.

Police say they had intelligence to suggest activists would gather in Brisbane early today, but they had no advance knowledge of their intended target.

So far there’s no indication the owner intends to make a formal complaint, police said.

Dozens of supporters remained outside the abattoir as 19 others went inside, and chained themselves up.

Chay Neal was among those who remained off site. He said activists met at a rallying point in Brisbane about 2am and faced several “police blockages” and random breath tests as they headed to the protest site, tailed by officers.

“It’s about drawing the public attention to the inherent cruelty in animal agriculture,” he told the ABC, while also admitting that those who went on-site had broken the law.

The protest ended after police negotiated with the group and convinced them to come out.

“The people inside successfully negotiated the release of three sheep . who are now on their way to a sanctuary,” Mr Neal said.

Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the states must beef-up trespass laws, so farm invaders would face serious penalties.

“If I broke into a suburban house in Melbourne or Sydney, I’d expect to be arrested, handcuffed and taken away. Breaking into a farm should be no different.”

Brad King, from the activist group Farm Animal Rescue, was among those at the protest and said animals slaughtered at the site had endured terrifying deaths.

“There are numerous occasions where they’re not stunned properly, but even when they are, the footage unequivocally demonstrates that it’s impossible to ‘humanely’ kill an animal who desperately doesn’t want to die,” he said in a statement.

About a dozen Carey Brother staff arrived shortly after the protest started and were frustrated about being lock out of the site.

“I reckon its bullsh*t,” Josh Jensen said. “These people need to get a job.”

Former abattoir worker Bill McVeigh said he had seen no evidence of animal mistreatment in his 17 years there.

“All they’re after is media exposure,” Mr McVeigh said.

“If they want to get that exposure for messing around with people’s businesses there should be consequences because right now there are none.

“They’ve broken into Carey’s and they’ve walked out again, only with a million dollars of free advertising.

“What has it cost them? Nothing.

“It’s a shame because they’ll get more exposure from this stunt, which hasn’t achieved anything, than any of the peaceful protesters who are trying to get a higher milk price for dairy farmers.

“We’ve all got businesses and families, we understand you can have a bit of a protest outside and hold the placards up, but you don’t go and chain yourselves up — we don’t have that in our DNA. We’ve got cows to milk.

“It’s pretty bad that they can break in whenever they like because when you close the doors of your business at the end of the day, you have a right to think everything is going to be safe.”

Originally published as Police forced to break up protest at abattoir near Warwick