It was so quiet out there in agri-politics land however the dam has burst with Meat and Livestock Australia and Australian Wool Innovations leaders Norton and Merriman standing toe-to-toe over animal welfare issues and mulesing in particular.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
For the record, MLA’s Richard Norton is seen by some as being single-minded and AWI’s Wally Merriman is a seasoned pugnacious street fighter on wool industry matters so the blood that flows could be copious.
Lost in the heat of battle could be the actual issues that affect woolgrowers and sheep meat producers.
There is simmering industry resentment on how the boards of both the MLA and AWI are appointed.
The AWI is democratically voted directly by levy payers and the MLA board is appointed and then approved by levy payers.
It is believed that a couple of hundred MLA levy payers can out-vote the rest of the industry and there is doubt as to who the levy payers are.
In time, no doubt, it will become clear as to why MLA have entered the turf of the AWI, which has been making admirable strides on the mulesing issue.
Articles have been appearing where it is claimed that the selling of meat from mulesed sheep is becoming difficult.
This would surely pertain to export markets, not the domestic market where the consumption of beef and lamb has plummeted.
In contrast, the value of wool has continued to rise driven many would argue by forces not generated by promotion. But who really knows.
The gloves are off and it will be a battle for MLA to fend off forces now lining up to bring about substantive change.
In the end, if the corpses littering the ground are politically untenable, politicians such as Barnaby Joyce may have to enter the fracas waving a white flag.
Casualty
The major casualty in the continuing debate on climate change and renewables is the truth.
Both sides of the debate slew information to suit their own ends.
Last week a letter to The Border Mail correctly said that Germany managed to hit an 85 per cent renewable target.
This was true, however, it was on a Sunday with no industry drawing power, limited public transport, and favourable weather conditions.
For the year, Germany’s power was generated by 18.1 per cent coal, 23.8 per cent brown coal, 9.1 per cent gas and 14 per cent nuclear which is a total of 65 per cent.
The balance was a mix of renewables.
Maybe this is why we continue to hear the argument about base load.
