The horrific treatment and slaughter methods of our live export at the hands of our overseas trading partners have come to light through the media in recent months. While live export is beneficial to the Australian economy, the overseas trading partners' senseless and inhumane methods of taking the lives of these animals is abhorrent.

Recent videos and images have shown that cows are being brutally beaten to death with a sledgehammer, oftentimes requiring multiple hits. Sometimes they have their throats cuts without sedation, leaving the beasts in visible distress while their lifeblood drains away.

Would we not be better off slaughtering the animals on Australian soil using humane methods and shipping packaged meat overseas for our trading partners to purchase, thereby creating jobs within our borders? Why is it that Australia closed our own abattoir in Townsville (North QLD), resulting in hundreds of jobs and income to our country being lost, to then irresponsibly send our stock overseas to be subjected to cruel treatment?

I feel there is a sensible and reasonable solution to this incomprehensible problem. Boxed beef or frozen beef can be offered to these countries that insist on treating our stock in such deplorable ways, thereby maintaining the income in our economy and creating job opportunities on our own soil.

I am not asking that people stop eating meat or for Australia to cease trade with other countries. I do believe that it can be done in a more humane way and that Australians should be able to know the truth about how their meat ends up on their plate and know there was no unnecessary suffering. Laws that handle the regulation of our live export are being completely disregarded, and should be reviewed or enforced to ensure the humane treatment of our stock.

A solution to this problem is to process our livestock in our own abattoirs and arrange to provide our trade partners with boxed beef.