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Speaker 1: Well.

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Speaker 2: In June, the Federal Court ruled the former Commonwealth government's

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Speaker 2: decision to ban live export trade to Indonesia in twenty

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Speaker 2: eleven was invalid. It follows a lengthy campaign led by

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Speaker 2: the Ant Cattleman's Association seeking compensation for the devastating impact

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Speaker 2: that the decision had on the industry. Now the industry

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Speaker 2: is being urged to come forward to get their share

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Speaker 2: in six hundred million dollars worth of compensation. To talk

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Speaker 2: more about it is the former Anti Cattleman's Association. Tracy Hayes.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Tracy, Good morning Maddie. Tracy. Can you take

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Speaker 2: us back to that decision back in twenty eleven to

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Speaker 2: ban live cattle exports? Just how devastating was that for

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory cattle producers.

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Speaker 3: Look at the time, it was incredibly devastating and the

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Speaker 3: effects were hard and fast, if I can put it

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Speaker 3: that way. Essentially the Northern industries lost to market overnight.

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Speaker 3: And it wasn't just cattle producers, of course, it was

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Speaker 3: the service providers that supply services into the supply chain

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Speaker 3: and livestock transporters, helicopter company, these feed stop and station

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Speaker 3: agents to name a few.

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Speaker 1: They're the direct suppliers.

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Speaker 3: And for those that were around in Northern Australia in

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Speaker 3: twenty eleven, you really can't forget it. It was like

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Speaker 3: the wheels of the North stop turning overnight. So the

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Speaker 3: impact was fast and it was far reaching.

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Speaker 2: I remember working as a producer on this program, funny enough,

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Speaker 2: back in twenty eleven, and I hadn't been in the

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Speaker 2: job too long and I was just blown away at

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Speaker 2: the anger of from a cattle producers and all those

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Speaker 2: that were affected by it. Our phones did not stop ringing,

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Speaker 2: and I remember Pete Davies, who was in the chair

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Speaker 2: at the time. He was lobbying very hard in support

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Speaker 2: of the cattle industry and GC had some fiery interviews

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Speaker 2: with those that were responsible for that decision. But I

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Speaker 2: just remember I'd been in the role about twelve months

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Speaker 2: and I'd never seen a community reaction like that before.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Of course the community outrage in relation to the abhorrent

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Speaker 3: animal welfare images that we saw was certainly.

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Speaker 1: And warranted in a lot of cases.

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Speaker 3: But of course the response by the government was also

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Speaker 3: a major shock to any industry operating in Australia and

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Speaker 3: it was certainly overreach and a knee jerk reaction, and

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Speaker 3: it was done with very limited, if any, consultation with

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Speaker 3: those that would have been impacted by it. The decision

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Speaker 3: was made knowing full well the devastation it would have caused.

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Speaker 3: And the other part was also the impact it had

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Speaker 3: on our relationship with our biggest trading partner, and that

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Speaker 3: is Indonesia.

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Speaker 1: Of course, they're are trusted and.

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Speaker 3: Valued trading partner and has been the case in Northern

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Speaker 3: Australia for many, many years. So there's been an awful

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Speaker 3: lot of work in repairing and rebuilding that relationship since then.

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Speaker 2: Then in June this year we saw the Federal Court

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Speaker 2: rule that that decision to ban live catalyc sports was invalid.

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Speaker 2: How relieved were you when you heard that come through?

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Speaker 1: Incredibly relieved.

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Speaker 3: We filed the class action in twenty fourteen, and there

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Speaker 3: was a significant period in the lead up to twenty

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Speaker 3: fourteen trying to negotiate with the Commonwealth and out of

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Speaker 3: court arrangement. We had a neutral evaluation undertaken by a

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Speaker 3: retired judge that told us that we had greater than

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Speaker 3: meaningful prospects of success should we go to court. So

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Speaker 3: we knew that we had a strong case.

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Speaker 1: We really backed ourselves.

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Speaker 3: We were discouraged by plenty though there were a lot

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Speaker 3: that felt that we didn't have a case. However, we

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Speaker 3: felt that we had no other option than to file

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Speaker 3: the action, and that happened in twenty fourteen. So it

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Speaker 3: took a number of years for the class action to

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Speaker 3: play out, and many many years in fact, so we

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Speaker 3: were incredibly relieved in June of this year because it

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Speaker 3: was a precedent case. Never before has misfeasance in public

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Speaker 3: office against the Minister of the Crown improven in a

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Speaker 3: court of law, so the bar was very, very high,

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Speaker 3: and so there was certainly mixed emotions on the day

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Speaker 3: that the judgment was handed down. But for me personally

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Speaker 3: that's been involved since the get go and playing a

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Speaker 3: facilitation role of the class action, it was definitely one

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Speaker 3: of relief.

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Speaker 2: How frustrating was that to see that drawn out over

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Speaker 2: those six long years mentioned that that was launched in

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Speaker 2: twenty fourteen, and then for a decision to only come

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Speaker 2: through in twenty twenty, I mean not just for you,

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Speaker 2: but for all those cattle producers and all those that

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Speaker 2: were affected. To see this drawn out for so long,

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Speaker 2: did it felt like it was never going to end

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Speaker 2: for a while.

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Speaker 3: Oh absolutely, it was becoming quite frustrating towards the end.

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Speaker 3: It was initially devastation and heartache and heartbreak, and some

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Speaker 3: of that heels with time, but of course we were

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Speaker 3: seeking justice and seeking compensation, and so we needed to

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Speaker 3: let the courts run through its processes and beatient. And

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Speaker 3: the judge took quite some time to hand down his judgment,

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Speaker 3: and that said to us that there was a large

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Speaker 3: body of evidence to work through. And we also took

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Speaker 3: that as a positive signal because if it was going

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Speaker 3: to if there wasn't a liability case to be had,

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Speaker 3: we felt that he would have taken that decision very quickly.

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Speaker 3: So that sort of sort of tempered our heels to

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Speaker 3: some extent, and we were sort of being as patient

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Speaker 3: as we could be.

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Speaker 2: As I understand it, the ruling means that those effective

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Speaker 2: could now share in up to six hundred million dollars

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Speaker 2: in compensation. Who is eligible for.

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Speaker 1: That, Well, there isn't actually a cap on the quantum.

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Speaker 3: So it could be more than that, it could be more,

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Speaker 3: it could be less. So we've been waiting on some

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Speaker 3: court orders since the judgment was handed down, and so

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Speaker 3: we're through that. Now, we were seeking some direction as

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Speaker 3: to how the class was going to play out. First

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Speaker 3: and foremost, we're looking for or an agile and a

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Speaker 3: lean model of administration for the administering.

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Speaker 1: Of the class.

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Speaker 3: It's important that we're able to get compensation out the

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Speaker 3: door as quickly as possible.

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Speaker 1: There are a number of things to work through before that.

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Speaker 3: However, you would have seen perhaps in the antinues over

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Speaker 3: the weekend, we're starting to put some notices out and

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Speaker 3: advertise to those that feel.

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Speaker 1: That they may have.

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Speaker 3: A case a claim to make and they are certainly

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Speaker 3: considered part of the class.

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Speaker 1: The class is.

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Speaker 3: Still open and we're encouraging anybody that is either a

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Speaker 3: producer or an exporter or.

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Speaker 1: A service provider.

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Speaker 3: So that's quite a broad term, and you would have

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Speaker 3: seen in the ads that are running now that there

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Speaker 3: is some definitions there that give some guidance to those

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Speaker 3: that feel like they may have been impacted and some

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Speaker 3: losses were born as a result of the decision.

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Speaker 2: How do you put a figure? I guess on that

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Speaker 2: component station because I guess the impacts of that one

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Speaker 2: decision were ongoing, and not only was there a financial impact,

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Speaker 2: but there was an emotional impact, there was you know,

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Speaker 2: lots of properties like how do you put a figure

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Speaker 2: on that?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so there's still I believe there are still some

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Speaker 3: categories to be tested. The lead applicant, the Black Cattle Company,

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Speaker 3: we were able to test some of those categories of

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Speaker 3: loss and you'll see that the judge talked about at

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Speaker 3: least eighty eight thousand head of cattle should have gone

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Speaker 3: to Indonesia but for the band, so the important the

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Speaker 3: important words there are at least, so that's a base

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Speaker 3: for us. So if the numbers, that's a very simple

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Speaker 3: category of course is it's a reduced number of guess

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Speaker 3: you can quantify that as it's quite simple. And there

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Speaker 3: are there are a range of other areas and so

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Speaker 3: some of them are yet to be tested.

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Speaker 1: The court was able.

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Speaker 3: To answer some questions for us in the quantum and

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Speaker 3: the liability hearings that we've had to date. So the

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Speaker 3: important piece of information to come out of this morning

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Speaker 3: is if you think that you do have you have

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Speaker 3: born some losses and you potentially have a claim, then

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Speaker 3: to come forward. And there is just another point that

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Speaker 3: I seek to clarify, Maddie. The Commonwealth there was some

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Speaker 3: legislation that impacted class action funders, and some regulation was

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Speaker 3: changed on August to twenty second, so we've been seeking

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Speaker 3: to get some clarification as to whether that would impact

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Speaker 3: on our class because our funder, the Australian Farmer's Fighting Fund,

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Speaker 3: it's actually a charity and it's a not for profit.

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Speaker 1: It's a trust that was set.

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Speaker 3: Up not ideally to class sorry to fund class actions.

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Speaker 3: So we've resolved that this week. So the ages and

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Speaker 3: the judge essentially agreed with us, and in so far

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Speaker 3: as we had arrangements in place prior to these regulations

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Speaker 3: coming into effect in August, so we're able to proceed

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Speaker 3: now on that basis. So we haven't been caught up

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Speaker 3: in that, and that was a very important clarification for

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Speaker 3: us and Tracy.

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Speaker 2: If there are people listening this morning and they go,

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Speaker 2: you know what, I was affected by this decision. I

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Speaker 2: want to be a part of this class action. I'm

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Speaker 2: seeking compensation. Who is the best person to contact?

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Speaker 3: So the best person to contact is Minter Ellison in Canberra.

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Speaker 3: Andrew gill is the lead counsel for us on that,

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Speaker 3: and of course I'm happy for folk to reach out

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Speaker 3: to myself or also the Northern Territory Cuttleman's and.

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Speaker 1: Just to seek clarification.

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Speaker 3: But please don't assume that you may not be eligible.

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Speaker 3: If you think that there is a chance you could be,

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Speaker 3: come forward and we'll have a look at it.

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Speaker 2: And is there a timeline when people need to get

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Speaker 2: in contact.

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Speaker 3: Yes, that's the other important piece of information. We'd like

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Speaker 3: people to register their interests prior to the seventeenth of

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Speaker 3: November because we are keen to work through this and

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Speaker 3: to get compensation out the door. So essentially we have a.

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Speaker 2: Month one month ago. All right, Well, we might get

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Speaker 2: in contact again in a month's time or so. And yeah,

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Speaker 2: obviously see if some more people have come forward. Tracy Hayes,

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Speaker 2: the former CEO of the Antiquettlement's Association, thank you so

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Speaker 2: much for coming in this morning.

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Speaker 1: Thanks Maddie,