Honest photos removed
A FORMER southwest Queensland photographer “infuriated” by the controversial Aussie Farms map says she uploaded genuine farming photos to the database, only to have them removed within hours.
Chantel McAlister, known on social media as Chantel Renae Photography, spent a month photographing farming practices on a sheep property listed on the map at Madura, Western Australia, but said her photos were taken down by Aussie Farms within 12 hours because they didn’t serve the group’s agenda.
“Let me make this very clear, I’m all for vegans,” she said.
“It’s animal activist groups who are turning their following into extremists by tugging on their heartstrings, by providing them only with edited material that serves their agenda, that I have a huge problem with.”
Ms McAlister, who has worked in the wool industry and lived on a sheep property for 11 years, said she had never visited the Madura Plains property before, met any of the workers or seen the condition of the livestock at the property.
“I was going in blind,” she wrote on Facebook.
“Not once did I have any doubt about the farm practices I would find out there.
“I am so confident in Aussie agriculture that before I hit the Nullabor I vouched for Madura Plains and its people.”
Ms McAlister said she was given access to the entire property and “left to her own devices” as “there was no time for set-ups” at Madura Plains, which runs about 53,000 sheep.
“With a baby on my hip and phone and camera in hand, my time was valuable,” she said.
“I had no luxuries of picking and choosing what kind of edit I would like to present of the farming practices.
“It was all shot as it was with no coat of sugar or interference from me.”
She said she was nothing but impressed by the practices at the farm, but Aussie Farms were not interested in “an honest documentation of what really goes on behind farm gates”.
“If I was one of their followers, I would be offended,” Ms McAlister said.
“Offended that while my group is going to extremes to ‘expose’ industries and demand transparency, they are only showing me edited material.”
Aussie Farms denied removing photos from its controversial map, after Ms McAlister claimed her genuine farm photos uploaded to the site were taken down.
Aussie Farms executive director Chris Delforce said the photos were not deleted but were under review and have now been published.
“When photos are uploaded by unverified accounts, they must first be checked and approved by a moderator before they are published,” he said.
“This is to prevent offensive (and/or) inappropriate or otherwise inaccurate photos appearing on our site.
“The photos in question are all published now.”
Mr Delforce said only reputable users and organisations who Aussie Farms trust to not upload offensive or inappropriate photos are verified.