The strike by State vets is already doing irreparable harm to our vulnerable chilled meat markets and is set to do even more, ACT Rural Affairs Spokesman Owen Jennings said.

“Modern food marketing is very susceptible to being able to guarantee consistent and regular supply. Our chilled market can easily be supplied by our competitors who do not have the handicap of stupid industrial laws. The uncertainty is already creating problems for our marketers anxious to maintain our reputation as a reliable supplier.

“Farmers are watching helplessly as they see any small advantage of higher prices for their stock disappearing through the thoughtless actions of the Government vets.

“The dry weather in many areas is forcing farmers to drop stock earlier than anticipated and the strike is putting real fear into their minds. This strike is a portent of the year ahead in industrial law under the badly conceived Employment Relations Act,” Mr Jennings said.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>