Few facts about Halal Certification-for-pay
There's no proof Halal Certification gives money to terrorists, but that's not why it's wrong. It's wrong because it forces non-religious people to pay forced donations to a promote religion they don't share.
1) Halal Certification on export meat came on when Saudi Arabia threatened a Muslim boycott if meat producers didn't pay the certification organisations and then also change their hiring and slaughtering practices. There's nothing soft about that. And let's all remember what Saudi Arabia is famous for: gender apartheid, religious intolerance, exporting extremism and murdering atheists. No wonder we pandered to them /s
2) Halal Certification raises huge amounts of money on all big-name products. Up to $27,000 for a large abattoir. Most payments are secret but for ordinary wholesalers I refer you to chairman of the Halal Certification Authority Mohammad el-Mouehly's evidence before the Federal Court of Australia in Halal Certification Authority Pty Limited v Scadilone Pty Limited [2014] FCA 614 (13 June 2014)
"El-Mouelhy’s documentary evidence was that his fee (without GST) to wholesalers was $27,090 in 2012, $33,580 in 2013 and $34,510 in 2014.”
3) Halal Certified products use your consumer dollar to pay donations to the Islamic Councils of NSW, Victoria, WA, the ACT and Queensland through Muslims Australia (formerly AFIC) as can be seen on page 55 of their 2011 annual report. Muslims Australia certifies Vegemite as they proudly declared on their website. The logo has been taken down but I'm sure someone has a screenshot.
4) Most products that are Halal Certified have NO label. So you don't have a choice on whether you want to donate to Islam or not. Dairy Farmers thickened cream - no mark. Lamb at Coles - no mark. I look at Bulla Icecream - no mark. These are ALL Halal Certified.
Most reasonable people would say that both Halal and Kosher should be forced to provide their service FREE as well as label them clearly. The non-religious should not have to fund their certification which is now incorporated into the cost of production and thus the price. They want it, they pay.
The religious can raise funds by rattling a tin before their congregation.
5) Halal Certification has brought in discriminatory hiring practices in abattoirs.
Industrial relations commission case IMRAN KHAN -V- RAMSEY FOOD PACKAGING PTY LTD - shows:
The Supreme Islamic Council of Halal Meat in Australia, authorised by Saudi Arabia, hand picks those allowed to be considered for employment in return for kickbacks of up to $75,000 per man to secure the chance of a job. SICHMA then controls the employees and not the abattoir. SICHMA charged secret fees of 30c per carton of processed halal meat.
6) Halal Certified animals are killed by slitting the throat and bleeding to death. They are given a temporary stun that has been TESTED on un-slaughtered animals to make sure the animal recovers. This is so it can be guaranteed the animal dies from blood loss and not from being stunned.
If the temporary electric stun is used, it produces a grand mal seizure and wears off in 40 seconds. - (Academic study: The efficacy of pulsed ultrahigh current for the stunning of cattle prior to slaughter; A. Robins, H. Pleiter, M. Latter, C.J.C. Phillips).
7) Me, you and everybody else has been forced into paying money to Halal Certification authorities and to changing the slaughter practices in Australia in support of an imaginary skydaddy you may not believe in. It is unlabelled and on almost everything. All the meat. All the butter. All the cream on sale in Coles, even though it's not on the label.
I have rung the companies to check.