Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to oppose this private member's bill, the Live Sheep Long Haul Export Prohibition Bill 2018, on four grounds: firstly, the effect it will have on the hardworking farmers, truck drivers, stock agents and ancillary industries such as pellet manufacturers, who rely heavily on the live export trade for their livelihoods; secondly, the loss of the positive impact the ESCAS has had on animal welfare outcomes for not only Australian animals but all animals in destination countries; thirdly, the wider trade implications with the Middle East; and, finally, the live sheep trade in the Middle East is much larger than Australian supply, so our animals will be substituted with animals from sub-Saharan Africa, the Black Sea and South America.

The live export trade is worth around $250 million to the Australian economy, with over 85 per cent of this income generated from WA, largely from my electorate. After the closure of the live export trade in 2011, prices for shipping wethers fell from the $80 to $100 per head range to $5 per head, recovering to the $20 to $30 a head range in the months following. This of course dragged the entire sheep market down by over 50 per cent and sent many businesses to the wall.

I have received hundreds of emails from constituents who have been suffering great uncertainty and anxiety over the future of their businesses following the introduction of this private member's bill. Many farmers, like me, were shocked to see the animals they had raised and nurtured suffer due to the extreme weather event on the Awassi Express. But it's worth noting that live export mortalities currently average 0.7 per cent per voyage, compared to 1.9 per cent in the 1990s. So this is a massive improvement over the last 15 years. This can be compared to Australian annual grazing losses of up to five per cent. One farmer reminded me: 'Mother Nature imposes things on us that can cause livestock losses, despite our best intentions.' Livestock transporter Andy Jacobs sits on the committee of the Livestock and Rural Transport Association of WA. He states that over 25 per cent of their members will be adversely affected by any industry closure, and many are only just recovering from the 2011 shutdown. Andy also provided this sobering reminder: 'Human life is important too. In 2011 we lost good people to suicide as a direct result of the loss of this trade, let alone the animals that needed to be destroyed.'

Our ESCAS has actually lifted animal welfare standards across export destination nations for all sheep, not only Australian sheep.

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