Albanese government lets deadline slide in live cattle shutdown legal dispute

The Albanese government has signalled it will reject an offer from the cattle industry to settle a long-running legal battle for compensation over the live export trade ban to Indonesia in 2012.

Roebuck Plains Cattle Station near Broome in WA.

The Albanese government has signalled it will reject an offer from the cattle industry to settle a long-running legal battle for compensation, after the Gillard Labor government shut down the live export trade to Indonesia more than 12 years ago.

With the close of business on Friday marking the deadline for the government to accept a counter offer to settle the class action for more than $500m and avoid returning to court, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has indicated he will turn down the offer and stick to the government’s proposed settlement of $215m.

The applicants, led by Brett ­Cattle Company, originally sought more than $1bn in damages but in late 2022 the federal government offered less than a quarter of that sum after the ­Federal Court found the ban was unlawful.

Under the cattle industry’s settlement offer, the government would pay $510m plus interest payments and costs, which could take the total to $800m-$900m.

Nationals leader David Littleproud has called on the government to accept the beef industry’s offer rather than drag out the legal process further.

“Labor should settle this case now and let farmers move on with their lives,” he said.

“The Nationals previously called for this case to be settled ­before Christmas, and allowing the deadline to pass isn’t good enough.

“The unlawful closure of the live cattle export trade in 2011 was a decision of Labor, so it’s important they right their wrong and give closure to these families.”

A spokesman for Mr Dreyfus said the delay in resolving the class action settlement was “not due to any actions by the commonwealth”.

“The commonwealth has engaged in a good-faith attempt to settle the claims made by the applicants, including by making an offer of settlement of $215m in December 2022,” he said.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud has called on the government to accept the settlement.

Australian Cattle Enterprises managing director Patrick Underwood, who is an applicant in the class action, said the export ban took an emotional and financial toll on his family who were unable to sell their Northern Territory cattle stations for years after the announcement.

“The least the government can do when you consider the pain caused to the whole industry is try and do the right thing and make good on the compensation to people that they owe money to,” he said.

“So it’s very disappointing it’s taken so long to finalise things ­because it’s just something that just goes on and on and there’s no closure.”

Mr Underwood was one of the industry representatives who met with then prime minister Julia Gillard in 2011 the night before she announced the ban and he hosted then agriculture minister Tony Burke on his cattle station in 2008 to film an episode of ABC program Landline.

“That’s definitely the word that comes to mind: betrayal,” Mr Underwood said.

Following an ABC Four Corners report in May 2011 airing footage of Australian cattle being slaughtered, the Gillard government banned live cattle exports to Indonesia.

Three months later exports were allowed to resume under strict regulation.