Abbott cattle mission no go with Gillard

(AAP) - Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's proposal that he accompany Prime Minister Julia Gillard to Indonesia to resolve the live cattle issue and restart exports has fallen flat.
The federal government cut off live exports to Indonesia after footage of cattle being mistreated in Indonesian abattoirs was broadcast on ABC TV's Four Corners program on May 30.
Mr Abbott said both he and Ms Gillard should put aside their political differences and travel to Indonesia together to ensure the industry is restarted as quickly as possible.
"Plainly, the Indonesians are unhappy about the way their industry has been treated in public debate over the last four or five weeks," Mr Abbott told reporters at a station in the Northern Territory.
"I think it's very important that we do everything we humanly can to let the Indonesians know that it's not about them, that we will treat them with respect and we want to ensure that this industry continues because in the long run that's going to be best for animal welfare, as well as being good for Australia and good for Indonesia."
Australia should do its best to assure Indonesians that Australia wants to treat them with respect as a friend, neighbour and constructive contributors to the wider world, Mr Abbott said.
"So, that's what I'm suggesting to the prime minister: that we put our usual party political differences to one side, that we jointly go to Indonesia," he said.
A spokesman for Ms Gillard said the government was working methodically through a difficult and complex set of issues.
"This won't be fixed by a three-word slogan or another Tony Abbott stunt," the spokesman told AAP.
"The government has previously offered Mr Abbott briefings on this issue which he has failed to attend."
Ms Gillard said the government would be pressing to resume the trade with Indonesia under appropriate circumstances and she didn't want exports to stop for a day longer than they had to.
"That requires twothings: it means we've got to have the right standards in the abattoirs that Australian animals are headed to, and we've got to have the ability to track where Australian animals go so we're putting in place both," she told the Ten Network.
Ms Gillard brushed off suggestions Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd hadn't been involved enough in the issue.
"Kevin Rudd has been involved in this work, in getting the live export trade resumed to Indonesia," she said.
"Now in terms of the team that's working on this of course I'm working on it personally, Joe Ludwig is working on it as our agriculture minister.
"Kevin Rudd's been involved in appropriate discussions with his counterpart in Indonesia, Craig Emerson our trade minister has also been involved in discussions with his counterpart, and we'll keep pushing at all levels to get the animal welfare issues right and to resume this trade."
Ms Gillard said she was concerned there wasn't enough response when Mr Ludwig told Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) early this year that a plan on animal welfare was required.
"There wasn't sufficient response from them, there was a scanty document in March and then not much more in May," she said.
"So we've got to get this right now, we will be pressing MLA to get it right."