Tony Abbott's call for trip to Indonesia dismissed as a stunt Opposition Leader Tony Abbott during a visit to a remote cattle station in the Northern Territory yesterday. Picture: Gary Ramage. Source: The Australian Australian Agenda Seg 3 26.06.11 TONY Abbott's proposal for a joint trip to Indonesia with Julia Gillard to tackle the live cattle crisis has failed, with the government rejecting the offer and branding it a stunt. The Opposition Leader travelled to Newcastle Waters station in the Northern Territory's west Barkly region yesterday to meet producers, discuss the situation and maximise pressure on the Gillard government to find a solution to the trade ban. Joined by the property's owner, Ken Warriner, and opposition indigenous affairs spokesman Nigel Scullion, Mr Abbott announced his proposal. "Plainly, the Indonesians are unhappy about the way their industry has been treated in public debate," Mr Abbott said. I think it's very important that we do everything we humanly can to let the Indonesians know that . . . we will treat them with respect and we want to ensure that this industry continues, because in the long run that's going to be best for animal welfare, as well as being good for Australia and good for Indonesia. So that's what I'm suggesting to the Prime Minister: that we put our usual party political differences to one side, that we jointly go to Indonesia. A spokesman for Ms Gillard rejected the offer. "This won't be fixed by a three-word slogan or another Tony Abbott stunt," the spokesman said. The government has previously offered Mr Abbott briefings on this issue, which he has failed to attend. Mr Abbott was undeterred by the government's naming of his political initiatives as stunts yesterday, as he sought to publicise his latest offer with feats such as jumping cattle fences, mounting a jackeroo's steer during muster, posing next to an 850kg bull and taking the wheel of truckie Adam "Hoggy" Hogg's road train at Newcastle Waters Station. The banning of the $320 million live cattle trade on June 8 followed a Four Corners expose on the brutal slaughter methods used by some abattoirs in Indonesia. Mr Abbott said the trade sustained over 10,000 jobs in the Northern Territory. Additional reporting: AAP