 At 12 noon in Western Australia, while London was still asleep, People Against Cruelty in Animal Transport (PACAT) supporters gathered in chilly winter conditions outside the offices of the Western Australian Premier in Perth. Some five hours later on the other side of the world, Naturewatch supporters started to gather outside the Australian High Commission building in London's summer sunshine.
 Supporters of both organisations let passers-by know that a whole year had passed since the Cormo tragedy and that they needed to let those in power know how they felt about the issue. There were banners, placards, people in sheep costumes, leaflets were distributed and a loudhailer let everyone know why we were there.
 Naturewatch was delighted to see so many supporters join us outside the Australian High Commission building. This was an indication of how strongly people in the UK feel about the Australian live export trade – over the last few months a surprising number of supporters have written to say that they had lived in Australia, or that they had family in Australia, and that this shameful trade was a blight on an otherwise beautiful country. One supporter told us that he had worked for many years in the port of Fremantle and had seen at first-hand the cruelties of the trade; he assured us that the witness reports received from PACAT and Animals Australia were no exaggeration.  While our friends in Perth shivered, Naturewatch supporters sweltered in the sunshine and were entertained by didgeridoo player Jonny Cope and a wonderful Dame Edna Everage lookalike, who flirted shamelessly with the London cabbies! The response from passers-by to our demonstration was wonderful – a few didn't want to stop and talk, but most were interested and many were aware of the issues and supported what we were doing. Quite a few Australian people took an interest in what we were doing, and one woman took a batch of PACAT and Naturewatch leaflets to send back to her family and friends in her home town of Kalgoorlie.  A Naturewatch delegation handed over a petition of some 57,000 signatures – one for each of the Cormo sheep – to the Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Bill Tweddell. The petitions were presented in gift-wrapped boxes with a label bearing the words 'Unhappy birthday! 6 August 2003 – 57,000 sheep board the Cormo Express ship of death. 6 August 2004 – 57,000 people say BAN THE AUSTRALIAN LIVE EXPORT TRADE.' Mr Tweddell and his colleagues were courteous, but curiously ill-informed about their country's live export trade. This was surprising, since Mr Tweddell had met with representatives of PACAT and Compassion in World Farming only last October to discuss the issues. Moreover, we had been told that over 10,000 letters of protest from Naturewatch supporters had been received at the High Commission, all of which had to be forwarded to the Australian Government in Canberra! But we were promised that the petition signatures would be passed on likewise. So the Australian Government can be in no doubt as to how its reputation is being damaged internationally by its continued acceptance of the atrocities being inflicted on millions of Australian animals each year.
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