Asia played us all for fools and our own politicians held the door open
Australia didn’t “accidentally” end up with the most expensive beef on Earth. We were walked into it — duped by Asian buyers, cheered on by clueless ministers, and rubber-stamped by the NFF, who apparently couldn’t read a supply-and-demand graph if it came with crayons and a safety helmet.
The simple truth anyone can understand
• When Australia exported 180~220kg weaners, we produced over twice as many cattle.
• More cattle = more supply = cheaper beef.
• That’s it. It’s not astrophysics.
But Asia wanted heavier cattle. And our politicians, in full village-idiot mode, said yes.
What heavier export weights really did
• Producers must now hold animals an extra year, instantly slashing total numbers.
• Fewer cattle on trucks and ships = higher carbon footprint (so much for “green”).
• Processors and feedlots gobble up stock with their buying power, pushing prices even higher.
• Grass/crop fatteners now pay more per kg than they can ever earn back.
It’s not an industry — it’s a self-inflicted chokehold.
And then came the masterclass in stupidity
In 2019, after a Vietnam trip with the NFF CEO, then-Ag Minister Bridget McKenzie pushed the government to lift export weights to “almost anything goes.”
The result?
• Australia ended up with the most expensive cattle in the world.
• Vietnam — using Australian cattle — is now processing and exporting beef.
Let that sink in: we raise the animals, they export the product.
That’s not trade. That’s a mug’s game.
The rotten structure behind it
Taxpayers fund MLA, but consumers get no seat at the table — perhaps because Big Meat Barons and friendly politicians don’t want them there. NACC may yet have fun digging through Senator Susan McDonald’s conflict-of-interest complaint.
The kicker
Producers actually earn more per kilo at 180~220kg than at heavier weights.
So Asia didn’t beat Australia — Australia beat itself, while Vietnam cashes in on our cattle.
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