From say 1950 to now world trade has changed.
We once sold to England and that was about it.
We now export to the world, Australia fights trade barriers harder than most and as hard as any country.
While this thread is about a disease and meat imports it has rightly considered loss of trade,, if we do not undertake things we said we would this year under a trade deal.
We export far more than farm products, and if we could not?
This country without world trade would forever be third world.
True free world trade,, if we ever got it, would be a real force for good,, poorer country's may need help still but as we traded and became more interdependent just maybe we could live better together.
Australia wants such trade, barriers are being put up here by a few, but those few would never want to threaten our trade would they?
Some a few greens supporters among them, henny penny on health issues, without understanding make claims that are wild and unfounded.
We will not import mad cow, we hopefully will never feed animal products to cattle.
But we will get such an illness in time and cry foul when it hurts our trade.

We have already had cases of mad cow disease in this country of course, but these were contracted by people eating meat products produced from other countries, and the victims emigrated here before showing signs of the disease.
Or they were Aussies who spent some time overseas.

I have only ever nursed two cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease here in my career.
Both people suffered immeasurably.

First they started losing their memory,
then they forgot how to attend to their usual activities of daily living,
then they started losing all their bodily functions,
then they became demented and bedridden,
then they started having incredible head pain,
coma and death.
All this takes about a year from go to whoa.

No thanks! I don't eat beef any more. And I am horrified that we would even consider imported beef products when we have plenty of our own beef grown here.

Lifting the Imported Meats Ban is a case for
concern.

The Australian Beef Association according to
several websites has said that -" the expected increase
in imports couldn't come at a worse time."
Apparently beef prices are at their lowest
since the 1974-78 cattle depression.

Three abattoirs have closed in recent weeks,
with the loss of 540 jobs.

We're also told that because the Aussie dollar is
strong, "there's likely to be a flood of processed
food including pies, sausage rolls and beef jerky,
which will be sold bearing an Aussie flag."

It seems that it only has to be "substantially
transformed," (whatever that means) here,
to be labelled, "Made in Australia."

And that's not even tackling all the health risks
involved in the lifting of this ban.

As one website indicated - this was a "sell out of
Australian farmers, Australian consumers,
and Australian jobs!"

Foxy,

Meat pie:
Pastry or packaging - Oz
Everything else - O'seas.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is the governmental body responsible for developing food standards for Australia and New Zealand. If you read Choice's (Australian Consumers' Association) break-down of what is allowed in a pie (eg snouts, ears, udders, lots of heart and blood and dollops of fat) you would never eat one again. It doesn't have to come from cattle, pigs or sheep either. The same applies to other products made from processed meat.

You can only wonder what absolute rubbish from overseas abattoirs will be tipped into pies, sausage rolls and whatever. Hands up those who think they will get value for money and the prices will drop. None showing I trust.

You might be better off shopping with the pensioners (poor buggers) and taking some tinned cat food home.

Dear Cornflower,

Scares the living daylights out of me!

My husband loves meat pies!

Farmers are reeling from long periods of drought and
competition from the live export trade.
It couldn't have come at a worse time.

And what's worse I read on one of the websites that
the Red Meat Advisory Council and Livestock Australia
are believed to be "on side."

Apparently they've signed "confidentiality agreements."
So what's really going on? And who does it benefit?
Large corporations?

Foxy

I reckon that the meat industry could be playing with fire if consumers really get onto this one. Already many people are turning away from red meats through excessive prices and poor quality.

We eat a lot of chicken and seafood and more of our preferred main meals don't have meat. Not becoming vegetarian but it is easy to lose the taste for red meat.