Australian meat industry urges protection against activists

By Aidan Fortune

- Last updated on GMT

Clancyjames was damaged by anti-meat activists earlier this week
Clancyjames was damaged by anti-meat activists earlier this week
The Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) has called on the Government to recognise that anti-meat activism is affecting businesses across the supply chain following an attack on a Brisbane butcher shop.

Staff at AMIC member Clancyjames’s butcher shop in Taringa found fake blood, smashed glass made to look like bullet holes and a spray painted message declaring ‘meat is murder’. AMIC reported that local police have made an arrest.

Owner David Bobberman said: “I hope there will be charges laid. When you come to work and there are two holes that look like bullet holes, you don’t take that idly. This is a free country – by all means say what you want, but go about it the right way.”

AMIC CEO Patrick Hutchinson said: “We are simply disgusted by this. Once again we see activists targeting legally operating businesses. Just a couple of months ago activists closed down a busy intersection in Melbourne and broke into a number of premises, only to walk away with a slap on the wrist. It sends absolutely the wrong message.

“We’re heartened to know that our new Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie is on board with much tougher penalties for agri-activists. but it is critical that this is not limited only to on-farm activism. As we’ve seen in Brisbane, there are other businesses feeling the brunt of this disgraceful behaviour.”

Hutchinson added that it’s time for penalties against activists to reflect community values.

“We need immediate action to deliver tougher fines and jail terms to curb this unlawful activity,”​ he said. “These activists are criminals and they need to be treated like it. We call on both the Agriculture Minister and the Minister for Small Business, Michaelia Cash, to commit to swift and decisive action to push through changes to legislation that will make it easier to prosecute illegal activism.”

In January, the AMIC urged that a website with a satellite map​ showing hundreds of farm and abattoir locations across Australia be shut down. The site had been set by animal charity Aussie Farms to highlight what it deemed "commercialised animal abuse and exploitation in Australian agriculture" ​however AMIC described it as “irresponsible and a breach of privacy​”​, as well as dangerous to the activists and animals under care at the locations.

International issue

These incidents aren’t unique to Australia. In June 2018, butchers in France wrote to the Government calling for a police presence​ after a string of vandalism incidents at their shops. The French Federation of Butchers (Confédération Française de la Boucherie) revealed in a letter to the Government that several shops in France have been stoned and vandalised by anti-meat graffiti.

The UK has had its fair share of incidents as well. In May 2018, a butcher shop in Kent was vandalised and sprayed with anti-meat graffiti leaving the owner in fear. One UK-based meat wholesaler who did not wish to be named told Global Meat News​ that their business and the neighbouring abattoir had previously suffered an attempted fire attack which if successful could have caused serious injuries to members of staff.

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