GIPPSLAND livestock agents are canvassing agent licensing in the wake of the sentencing of a Victorian man for offences related to the sourcing of cattle for live export to China.

Leongatha stock agent Simon Henderson.

On Monday in Victoria’s County Court, livestock agent Nathan Gibbon, 50, was sentenced to six months jail after pleading guilty to two offences involving dairy heifers intended for export to China.

The agent was found to have fraudulently obtained $234,705 from two export companies after falsely claiming the heifers he was selling were vendor-bred.

He was sentenced to a six-month prison term followed by an 18-month community corrections order by Country Court Justice Justin Lewis.

Leongatha stock agent Simon Henderson said the case highlighted the lack of licensing of stock and station agents in the state, and he and other agents were concerned about its impact on the credibility of Victorian livestock agents generally.

Unlike in New South Wales, in Victoria, livestock agents are not licensed. Mr Henderson said Gippsland agents have been lobbying through the Australian Livestock & Property Agents Association to have the state’s stock and station agents licensed “to give the industry a feeling of more professionalism and some sort of qualification.”

Mr Henderson is on the southern region advisory committee for ALPA and also holds a real estate agent’s licence. He said a stock and station agent license could be similar to a real estate licence and managed through Consumer Affairs Victoria, with a set of guidelines, moral and ethical standards that agents must adhere to. Stock and station agents and others need to be licensed with CAV to sell real estate, but there is no specific livestock agent licensing system in Victoria.

Mr Henderson said one requirement of the proposed licence would be if acting as a stock and station agent and sourcing livestock for export, clients would be paid “whatever happens.”

“Whereas we have had instances recently where people have sold cattle and haven’t been paid.”

Mr Henderson said a licensing system would also discourage people from acting inappropriately because they could be “crossed off and not be able to operate as a stock and station agent.”

“This would give our industry a higher level of integrity than what it has at the moment, because you only have one person do the wrong thing and it drags the rest of the honest people down with it.

“It would certainly make people aware if they were charged with a serious offence that they could be removed from operating in this professional field, similar to what real estate agents are.”

Mr Henderson said under the current system Mr Gibbon could resume selling cattle at the Leongatha saleyards once he has completed his prison term.

“We’ve been unhappy with the lack of licensing and regulation in our industry since Jeff Kennett removed auctioneer’s licenses back in the mid-90s when he was cutting costs.

“I’m speaking on behalf of myself and a lot of people that I work with,” he said.

“We feel that the behavior of just a handful of people is bringing the whole industry into disrepute and we believe that licensing is one way of giving our industry credibility and making sure that the people in it are honest and representing their clients and the rural fraternity to best of their ability within an administration where there are penalties for poor conduct.”

Mr Henderson said he had discussed licensing with ALPA chief executive Peter Baldwin, the large corporate agencies and politicians.

“But it’s all too hard,” he said, with resistance from the corporate companies due to the potential cost.

“Regulation, who is going to police it, well it should go through Consumer Affairs Victoria.

“It just seems weird that in New South Wales it happens … I believe that every agent should pay for their own license, no difference from having a qualification as a builder or a tradesman.”

Victorian Farmers Federation livestock vice president Peter Miller said the federation would support livestock agents being registered or licensed.

“It would improve the credibility of our industry.

“Checks and balances would need to happen and you would have to look at the penalties.”

Mr Miller said the Nathan Gibbon situation had the potential to destroy the dairy heifer trade into China.

“To lose a market like that would be terrible and you could say the same about exporting beef heifers – we need to protect those markets.

“If the agent was licensed it would help protect that.”

He said the current penalties were inadequate and he supported agents being suspended from trading for a period if inappropriate or illegal conduct was proven.

“To give it any grunt that’s what has got to happen.”

Mr Miller expected the issue to be discussed at the VFF Livestock Conference in Bendigo this week.

ALPA chief executive officer Peter Baldwin had no comment to make on the licensing of stock agents in Victoria.

“ALPA commends the exceptional conduct and professionalism of our member agents in the performance of their roles as stock and station agents in all jurisdictions across the nation where there is a statutory licensing requirement in place and where there is no requirement to hold a licence,” he said.