Country Breakfast News October 28
Wool bosses face Senate grilling
Nationals senators are calling for major reforms within all levels of the Australian wool industry.
This week, Australian Wool Innovation's leadership faced a grilling in Senate Estimates.
While senators have stopped short of demanding chairman Wal Merriman step down, they say AWI has lost the trust of the farmers and tax payers who fund the organisation.
The Senate Estimates hearing was a fiery affair - as Wal Merriman was forced to apologise for 2 things, secretly viewing behind a mirror, a focus group of woolgrowers who were discussing the future of genetic research
and then lately for swearing at an ABC reporter who asked him questions about that incident.
Mr Merriman apologised for using language of the shearing shed and acknowledged he breached his code of conduct.
Senator Barry O'Sullivan, the chairman of the senate committee, says there must be changes to how AWI elects its leaders, to reduce the power of one person in directing research in wool.. The Senator is considering referring AWI and its operations to the National Audit Office.
Live export investigation fails to quantify sheep deaths
The Federal Department of Agriculture has no way of knowing how many sheep died on a livestock ship to the Middle East last year, despite a formal investigation.
Emanuel Exports sent a load of more than 69,000 from Fremantle to the Middle East in July last year and an investigation was triggered when it was revealed more than 2 per cent of the sheep on board died from heat stress.
The report states 1,741 sheep died on the 23-day voyage on board the Al Messilah vessel, to markets in Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman.
But it also concedes it was impossible to verify exactly how many animals died, because the report states that 1,286 animals "could not be accounted for".
ACCC to pursue 5 star safety rating for quad bikes
The ACCC is working with regulators in every state in Australia on a new national 5 star rating system for Quad bikes.
A national meeting of State Work Safe and Consumer Affairs Ministers have agreed to develop the national standard which is expected to be in force by mid next year.
It follows 104 deaths from quad bikes in the past 15 years, and coronial inquests in Queensland, NSW and Tasmania, have all demanded action for safer quad bikes in particular keeping children off the vehicles.
Berry boom for Australian growers
Australian consumers are buying more fresh berries every year, but are yet to see local raspberries and blueberries in major supermarket freezers.
Berries have been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons since Hepatitis A cases were first linked to frozen imports nearly three years ago.
Australian farmers have celebrated every negative headline.
"It certainly has been a positive, if you can see it that way," Raspberries and Blackberries Australia (RABA) executive officer Jonathan Eccles said.
"That incident probably gave more recognition to Australian-grown berries and production is trying to keep up with demand."
