2 days Ago By Matt Brann
Northern Australia's cattle industry says it is "coming with a vengeance" for compensation as it heads back to Federal Court next month to resolve the long-running class action against the Commonwealth's live export ban in 2011. The cattle industry but hundreds of claimants are still waiting for compensation. Outgoing NT Cattlemen's Association chief executive Will Evans said the industry had been led along for years.
"We're going back to court, we're bringing all guns blazing and will take you for every cent we can," he said. Mr Evans said the behaviour of the federal government had been "disgraceful". "There are 11 cabinet ministers today that were in the [Julia Gillard] government in 2011 when the ban was made and you'd think their top priority would be to fix the problem they caused, but they've done the opposite of that," Mr Evans said.
"The way we've been treated is appalling. People have now died not seeing their compensation paid. In late 2022, the federal Labor government offered to settle the case for $215 million, which was The government then rejected the industry's counteroffer to settle for .
Mr Evans said the industry was frustrated to be heading back to court to settle a case it had already won. "The federal government is going to badly lose the fight over compensation in the Brett cattle case and they are going to cost the Australia taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars," he said. The case is due to be heard in the Federal Court between April 14 and May 12.
No model litigants Speaking at the NT Cattlemen's Association Conference in Darwin, Nationals leader David Littleproud said, if elected, a Coalition government would resolve the class action and "not kick it down the road any longer". "We need to be model litigants and show some respect because this has gone on for too long," he said. 'It's not just the financial toll, it's the human toll.
" Asked how much money the Coalition would pay in compensation, Mr Littleproud would not commit to an amount, saying he would "respect what the court determines". NTCA's Will Evans and NTCA president Henry Burke agreed neither party in government had been a "model litigant" over the last 14 years. As former NTCA president Tom Stockwell once said, there were multiple occasions where the government of the day "could have settled this whole dispute quietly, efficiently and cheaply out of court" — but they didn't.
A spokesperson for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the Labor government made "a very substantial settlement offer of $215 million" within months of taking office. "It is a matter of public record that the applicants were considering that offer for many months," the spokesperson said. "Ultimately, if the parties cannot settle, it will be a matter for the Federal Court to decide precisely how much the Commonwealth owes the applicants.
"It's worth noting that even though the live cattle ruling was made in 2020, the former Coalition Government did not settle the case with the applicants and left this to the incoming Labor Government to resolve." ABC Rural RoundUp newsletter.
