Aussies revolt as American beef makes a quiet return to Australia
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dismissed calls from the Opposition for an investigation, insisting the decision was made independently.
'There has been an independent review, it took 10 years,' he told the ABC on Sunday.
'The decision has been made, and it was made independently, at arm's length from any political influence.'
But the explanation hasn't satisfied everyone, especially not Tasmanian farmer Tree, who took to social media to share her fury.
Tree, a fifth-generation cattle producer, said the decision comes as a slap in the face to Australian farmers and is putting unaware consumers at risk.
'It's a betrayal,' she said in a TikTok video this week.
'We raise some of the cleanest, best beef in the world, and they want to undercut us with feedlot rubbish from the States?'
Tree fears that American beef will slip quietly into the kitchens of cafes, restaurants and fast food outlets, where country-of-origin labelling isn't required.
'It won't be at your butcher, it'll be in your burger. Your lasagne. Your pub steak. And you'll never know unless you ask,' she warns.
She's urged Australians to be vigilant and vocal about the origins of beef.
'Ask where the beef is from. Make it awkward. If we don't, we'll be eating that stuff without realising,' she said.
For Tree, the issue goes beyond economics.
'This is about respect. For the land, for our farmers, for the food we put in our bodies. We don't want to eat that beef. And we shouldn't have to,' she said.
And the cattle farmer isn't alone.
'Australian meat is internationally recognised as the best. Why would we eat anything else?' one person commented.
'I will not be selling American beef in my cafe!!! I will put a sign up at the front if it helps,' another said.
Others were concerned about the impact on local producers.
'This is devastating for our Aussie farmers. Please don't buy USA meat,' one said.
'Time for all of us to fully support our farmers! I'll never buy anything other than Aussie meat' another wrote.
The issue has sparked political embarrassment in Canberra, after Trade Minister Don Farrell backtracked on claims that Donald Trump had personally raised the matter with Albanese.
Farrell told Sky News the US President had mentioned beef imports on a phone call, before later admitting that no such call had taken place.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley wasted no time slamming Farrell, saying he 'seemed to be hallucinating' over his comments.
The US beef ban was originally imposed in 2003 after a US outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, which is linked to the deadly human brain disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob.
While the import ban on US-slaughtered cattle raised in Canada and Mexico remained in place until recently, beef from US-raised cattle was cleared in 2019.
The Albanese Government says the full reopening follows a rigorous safety review by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and insists Australia's biosecurity will remain protected by strict controls.
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has celebrated the move as a trade win for the US, with one former official declaring it would help 'make agriculture great again.'
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