Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Farrer on the introduction of this important bill, the Live Sheep Long Haul Export Prohibition Bill 2018. I also commend her and her co-sponsors for the courage they have shown in difficult circumstances. It is never easy to rally against your party's own policy position, and it is even more courageous to pursue the issue down the path of a private member's bill.

The reality is that the morality the live sheep trade relies upon is fundamentally broken. It has three basic flaws. First, it is reliant on the dreaded Northern Hemisphere summer trade—a trade which is completely incompatible with reasonable animal welfare standards. The science leaves us in no doubt about that. Second, the trade externalises animal welfare cruelty. The premiums earned by exporters as a result of cruel conditions, like excessive stocking densities, are externalised in the form of higher than normal payments to sheepmeat producers. This, of course, has the added disadvantage of putting at a disadvantage domestic processors here in Australia. Third, consumer preferences and community tolerance for the poor treatment of animals are both turning away from the live sheep model. The writing is on the wall, in any case.

It is a statement of fact to say that members and senators from a majority of parties represented in this parliament have now expressed support for the provisions within this bill, and they are important provisions. What this bill would do, first of all, is put an immediate stop to that northern summer trade: that practice of jamming tens of thousands of live sheep onto a vessel for a three- or four-week voyage in the hottest and most humid climatic conditions in the world. That has to stop. Second, it would phase out the balance of the trade over a five-year period, providing the sector with sufficient time to make the transition. When I say 'the sector', I'm talking mainly about those sheepmeat producers who have become dependent on the live-export trade for—in part at least—their livelihood.

I am very strongly of the view that, with the right strategic red meat industry plan, we can assist sheepmeat producers in making that transition, to take them to a better place both in animal welfare terms and in terms of sustainable profitability. And, at the same time, we can create a structure in this country which allows us to do more value-adding here in Australia, creating more jobs in Australia. So this strategic red meat plan will be good for sheepmeat producers, it will be good for the Australian economy, it will be good for Australian jobs, and, of course, it will produce better animal welfare standards.

We all know the reality of the difficulty in getting the member for Farrer's bill through this parliament. The Senate—not so difficult, in my view. I'm very confident about its prospects there. In fact, today, a bill pretty much replicating the member for Farrer's bill is being introduced into the Senate, so we'll give the parliament plenty of opportunities. But it will be difficult because the government will not give preference to either of these bills in the House, and, of course, to have them voted upon in the House will require an absolute majority. I was going to provide the parliament with yet another opportunity, and I've foreshadowed my intention of moving amendments to the bill proposed by the government which increases penalties in the live export trade. To secure support in the House for that amendment will only require, of course, a simple majority.

What has happened to that bill now? The government has pulled the bill from the legislative program to save the risk of losing those amendments in the House. If the government is confident of my amendment being defeated, it should just bring the bill on. We can only assume, as it withholds the bill, that it's not confident of defeating my amendments in the House. In other words, it's pushing against the will of the House of Representatives. It's clear this is the will of the House of Representatives. It's clear a number of members of the Liberal Party want to support me and the member for Farrer, and they should be allowed to do so.

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