ABA Label Beef Levy a "Reward for Failure"
AUSTRALIA - Australian Beef Association (ABA) Chairman Brad Bellinger has said that the $5.00 per head Beef Transaction Levy should be reduced to $1. He said the current levy rewarded Meat and Livestock Australia for failure.
27 May 2009
1 minute read
He said that Australian cattlemen who pay the levy- have the second lowest prices in the developed world. They are getting less for their cattle than they were 9 years ago.
Meat and Livestock Australia managing director, David Palmer is on a higher salary than the Prime Minister and the CEO of Macquarie Bank, claims ABA.
According to ABA, Australian cattlemen have the highest costs in the World with the $5 levy on every beast sold every time that it is sold. The US has a $1 levy and US cow calf producers are getting almost twice the price that Australian cattlemen receive. Australian cattlemen have the huge NLIS costs, which none of our competitors on the world scene have.
"Australian domestic beef consumption falls far short of our competitors - this has been concealed over the years by a deceptive system of calculation, which attributes the weight of pet food and carcass bone to human consumption. Australian nutritionists should recalculate consumption down 30 per cent and start recommending an increase in beef consumption to consumers," claims ABA.
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