Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)   notes that:

(i)   the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources report, Live-stock mortalities during exports by sea—Report for the period 1 January to 30 June 2016, tabled on 7 November 2016, recorded that another 839 cattle and 4,301 sheep died on live export ships in the first six months of this year,

(ii)   from 2009 to 2015, a total of 147,969 animals, that is 7,791 cattle and 140,178 sheep, died on live export voyages from Australia, representing an average of 406 animals per week suffering lingering deaths in that period,

(iii)   mortality is no indicator of morbidity or the number of animals who suffer on lengthy live export voyages,

(iv)   deaths at sea are so accepted by the industry and government that on every consignment, 1 per cent of cattle and 2 per cent of sheep can die without triggering a government investigation, and

(v)   not one exporter has ever had its licence revoked despite continuing and horrific breaches of the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS); and

(b)   calls on the Government to end the live export trade and work to expand the trade in boxed chilled meat.

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a statement for one minute.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I draw the attention of the chamber to the numbers that Senator Rhiannon has spoken about, those being 839 cattle lost in this time. What she did not say is that that is 0.14 per cent of the 600,000 cattle—in fact, cattle are far safer on ships than they are on the rangelands—and that 400 sheep out of 830,000 sheep represents 0.5 per cent. Senators might be interested to learn that human beings in this place die at the rate of 0.6 per cent, a higher rate than either cattle or sheep. Senator Rhiannon is quite right in terms of morbidity, because livestock actually put on weight during the journey. But what is interesting is that Senator Rhiannon in her motion speaks about the fact that 406 animals have been dying on the ships per week. It might be of some interest to learn that 406 humans in Australia die per day. (Time expired)

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion as put by Senator Rhiannon agreed to?