INDONESIA indicated it will reduce live cattle imports by 80%.

This may be just the opportunity for us to find alternative markets for our meat exports. Who knows, if successful we can give the Indonesian market the flick once and for all.

We talk about cruelty to animals yet we are sentencing our cattle to unbelievable cruelty.

They are clubbed, stabbed, buried alive, eyes pierced, tendons slashed and some butchered alive.

The sooner we can stop live exports the better and sell meat using Halal approved methods in Australia.

As soon as one says stop live exports to Islam countries there is a hue and cry from people saying what about our poor farmers.

It appears live exports represents a mere 8% in value of Australian boxed export meat. If our meat sales organisations cannot find markets world wide to replace this percentage loss then we should be ashamed of ourselves.

Instead, of crying our eyes out over Indonesia's meat decision we should grab it as an opportunity to find new and more profitable markets.

Keith Whiteside

Sippy Downs