Cattle industry loses court appeal over live export ban compensation

Australia's cattle industry has lost its appeal over the impact of the live export ban. (ABC: Chris Lewis) The Federal Court has dismissed the cattle industry's appeal over the scale of losses incurred after the 2011 live export ban. The NT Cattlemen's Association understands the final compensation payout will still be worth "hundreds of millions of dollars". The industry is now considering its options and reviewing the Federal Court's reasoning. Link copiedShareShare articleThe Federal Court has dismissed the northern cattle industry's appeal on the scale of losses incurred following the 2011 live export ban to Indonesia. The cattle industry was hoping to overturn a Federal Court decision made last year, which concluded that exports to Indonesia were already in "steep decline" leading up to the ban, and that exports in 2012 and 2013 were not affected by the ban in "any material way". NT Cattlemen's Association chief executive, Romy Carey, said today's verdict was "deeply disappointing". "Today's judgement may affect the damages pathway, but it does not rewrite history," she said. "Nothing in today's Federal Court judgement changes the 2020 finding that the then federal government acted unlawfully when it shut down live cattle exports to Indonesia in 2011." Mrs Carey said the final compensation payout would still be in the order of "hundreds of millions of dollars", but was now likely to be closer to the federal government's offer of $215 million. She said the Federal Court had yet to release it reasons publicly, but once that occurred the claimant group would consider its options going forward. "We would have liked to have seen this settled a long time ago," she said. "This case has been dragged out for so long. "The Commonwealth have had ample opportunity to settle this case and have not behaved as model litigants. "We would like now to see this settled in a timely manner as soon as possible." Romy Carey says the court decision does not change the fact the government acted unlawfully when it shut down live cattle exports. (ABC: News Dane Hirst ) It has been 15 years since the Gillard government temporarily suspended the trade to Indonesia because of animal cruelty concerns, and six years since the Federal Court ruled that decision unlawful. The federal government temporarily suspended the live cattle trade to Indonesia in June 2011, in what the industry said was a knee-jerk reaction to footage aired in the ABC Four Corners episode A Bloody Business. The month-long ban was lifted on July 6, 2011, but it took until August of that year for shipments to resume. In 2011 Kimberley pastoralists hit the streets of Broome to make their feelings about the ban known. (Matt Brann: ABC Rural) Three years later, in 2014, the cattle industry launched a class action, seeking compensation for the ban. The Brett family from Waterloo Station in the Northern Territory were the lead claimants, telling ABC Rural at the time that, while the ban lasted a month, the impact for the industry lasted much longer. "They're not costs that we've been able to recoup. They're not costs that we've been able to get back." Joe Ludwig never faced questions in court. (Beawiharta : Reuters) Unable to settle the matter outside of court, the claimant group appeared before the Federal Court in 2017 and 2018, pleading its case and expressing anger that former agricultural minister Joe Ludwig never fronted for questioning. It took until June of 2020, for the Federal Court to rule the live export ban imposed by the Commonwealth was unlawful. Justice Rares found Mr Ludwig had "committed misfeasance" and the blanket ban had been "invalid and capricious". The attorney-general at the time, Christian Porter, then infamously took more than a month before the Coalition government decided not to appeal against the ruling. The Brett family was later awarded nearly $3 million in compensation, but the hundreds of other claimants had to wait. Emily Brett's family was the lead litigant in a class action against the Commonwealth's live export ban. (Supplied) After two years of delays, frustrations and a change of government, in 2022 the federal Labor government offered to settle the case for $215 million, which the industry rejected and labelled "insulting". The government then rejected the industry's counteroffer to settle for $510 million, plus costs and interest. The matter returned to court, and in June 2025 the cattle industry's push for compensation was dealt a blow when Federal Court Justice Tom Thawley ruled that live cattle exports to Indonesia in the years that followed the 2011 ban were not affected in "any material way". In August 2025, the industry decided to launch an appeal against that decision, but that was today rejected by the Federal Court. Copy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Top StoriesAngus Taylor promises permanent tax cuts and to reinstate all negative gearingTopic:Tax

Cattle industry loses court appeal over live export ban compensation

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