But he was shocked at the footage which emerged from Indonesian abattoirs, revealed on the Four Corners program on Monday night.

Mr Cooper has seen many Australian meatworks in which he has worked close down - and he thinks a major factor in these closures is the live export trade.

The former Commonwealth Meat inspector estimates that, in the past 15 years, live trade has grown, taking Australian-raised stock to ports in countries such as Indonesia.

“Of all those years as a meat inspector I have never seen the atrocities against animals as I did last night,” he said. Mr Cooper listed the Newcastle Meatworks he started his career in when he “was a boy” of 18 as just one of the abattoirs he had witnessed close.

“Ten abattoirs that I have worked at have closed over the years,” he said.

“If they can’t get the stock they have to close the doors.”

Throughout NSW, Queensland and Victoria, Mr Cooper estimates about 30 abattoir closures due to the “downturn in stock” contributed to by live exporting.

“It is probably cheaper for them to ship the stock over but it is the loss of positions here, then there is the cruelty over there,” he said.

A small abattoir would employ about 200 people “from start to finish” in the processing of livestock, Mr Cooper said.

He was one of those made redundant as a Commonwealth Meat Inspector, as less stock became available to the industry, in 2000.

“They made most of us redundant as there wasn’t enough stock to keep us employed,” he said.

Jobs wouldn’t be the only benefit of the banning of live exports from Australia and slaughtering our own stock - the consumer would benefit as well, Mr Cooper said.

“Meat would be more available to the common person through the butchers,” he said.

Those running abattoirs like Roger Fletcher “are doing a great job” but the downturn of stock still remains an issue.

“Stop all live exports immediately and look at opening either government or private-owned meatworks. Make it more viable for meatworks to open and process the animals here,” he said.