Juliet Gellatley, the woman credited with devastating Australian kangaroo meat exports to Britain, will be arriving in Sydney on July 11 to co-ordinate European/Australian resistance to the industry. Ms Gellatley is director of the animal charity Viva!, the group which persuaded all 1,500 UK supermarkets to dump ‘roo meat. Her first visit in March 1998 was accompanied by raging controversy and this visit promises to be similar - with public speaking engagements, a rally, media conference at Parliament House and press and radio interviews being arranged.

Ms Gellatley’s visit is the first step in a renewed and reinvigorated campaign against the killing of kangaroos designed to involve animal groups in Europe and beyond. Viva! will share its research and campaign skills with national groups in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and South Africa. Viva! has its own offices in the UK, Poland and the USA. Viva!’s intention is to forge alliances between Australian and European groups in order to strengthen both and seriously impact on the sale of kangaroo meat and leather.

Ms Gellatley first visited Australia in March 1998, shortly after Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, withdrew from the trade. According to the Australian publication Food Processor, high-level pressure was brought to bear on Tesco. "... the (then) deputy prime minister and primary industries minister contacted the chairman of Tesco ... But despite the intervention, Tesco still pulled the meat from sale." Subsequently, one of the five major meat exporters, Australian Meats, saw its $1 million export trade destroyed and it handed back its export licence. Manager Dennis Grantham complained: "The decision has also affected our exports to other countries, including the US."

Ms Gellatley returned to Britain to finish the job and shortly afterwards, the UK’s second biggest supermarket chain, Sainsburys, followed Tesco is dumping ‘roo meat. A string of other outlets followed. Speaking from Viva!’s Brighton, UK, base, she said: "Make no mistake, people are horrified when they learn of the barbarous nature of Australia’s kangaroo free-for-all, and in particular the destruction of mothers and their baby joeys. The Australian government has clearly shown that the only interest it has in wildlife is the foreign currency it can earn by killing it."

One of the targets of Ms Gellatley’s Australian visit will be Michael Archer, director of the Australian Museum, Sydney, who supports kangaroo killing on the basis of a plan entitled FATE (The Future of Australia’s Terrestrial Ecosystems). He claims that placing a value on wildlife ensures its protection and survival because killers will not want to destroy the basis of their income.

"The Australian public has been fed a rag-bag of sound bites over the years to justify the killing of kangaroos, none of which stands up to scientific investigation", says zoologist Juliet Gellatley. "Michael Archer lends legitimacy to this deceit, which has led to the world’s worst wildlife slaughter. His belief that to value wildlife you have to kill it is threadbare in concept and flies in the face experience from all over the world.

"Quota systems have been a disaster almost everywhere they’re been tried. Once a killing industry has developed, the short- term survival of that industry becomes politically more important than the long-term survival of the species it hunts. And that’s what’s happening in Australia."

Ex Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, is supporting Viva!s kangaroo campaign and makes an appeal directly to the Australian people: "There is an urgent need for action to protect kangaroos from a barbaric industry which slaughters them for meat and leather. Please do all you can to help Viva! end this shameful massacre." The Hon. Richard Jones, MLC, Parliament of NSW and a string of animal welfare groups are supporting Viva!’s new initiative to publicise the world’s worst wildlife massacre.

For further information please contact Richard Jones in Sydney on 61-2-9230 2858, Juliet Gellatley in the UK on 001144 1273 777688 or Rheya Linden on 0438 360 283.