Morrissey and an Australian minister have Twitter beef over animal cruelty

You may remember Australia's deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, as the guy who enthusiastically berated Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, after they illegally snuck their dogs through customs earlier this year.

Now Joyce has beef with another celebrity. This time it's Morrissey, lead singer of iconic English rock outfit The Smiths and an impassioned animal rights activist.

While touring Australia, Morrissey penned an open letter to Joyce criticising Australia's live export trade in a letter via the PETA website Monday. He even took a swipe at Joyce's appearance.

"The horrific cruelty in the live-export trade is heavy enough to sink a ship, yet you insist on condemning millions of animals to this fate every year. You can deny it until you are red(der) in the face, but the industry is dying," he wrote.

"If meat is murder, live export is the slow boat to hell. Please help pave the way towards a kinder future by putting the live-export industry out of its misery immediately."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Joyce was quick to fire back on Twitter, noting that while he isn't particularly fond of The Smiths, he's very fond of Australian farmers.

"Mightn't be a big fan of the The Smiths, but I am a great fan of families in WA, NT and FNQ [Far North Queensland] who rely on our $2bn live export industry," Joyce wrote on Twitter on Monday afternoon.

"Record cattle prices for families in regional Australia -- sorry I don't cut it at Splendour in the Grass, but I accept that," he added in another tweet, references a major musical festival Down Under.

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Despite numerous reports of animal cruelty in countries like Indonesia and Vietnam from Australia's live export trade, successive governments have resisted calls for a ban on the practice. Live exports are worth more than A$800 million ($608 million) a year to the country.