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

I give the Labor Party credit for that, Joel. What will happen to the sheep from countries with less stringent welfare requirements? Middle Eastern countries import around 10 million sheep per annum, of which Australia contributes only 1.6 to 1.8 million. Contrary to assertions that this market is shrinking, global food company GIRA forecasts that demand will increase by 2.5 per cent per annum between now and 2022.

The Saudi market accounts for around 56 per cent of the world live sheep market and sits outside the ESCAS. Prior to 2009, these sheep came largely from Australia, but the bulk of these sheep are now sourced primarily from Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan. The assumption that ceasing live exports will simply drive substitution to chilled Australian meat is incorrect. We only have to look to Bahrain to see that in 2015, when the live export market became unviable due to changes to government subsidies, MLA figures showed that our chilled meat exports have shrunk from 11,987 tonnes in 2014 to 7,423 tonnes in 2017.

The fact is that live export is actually increasing. Comparisons have been made between New Zealand and Australia, but New Zealand has always been a prime lamb producer and has never had a substantial live export industry. Australia, on the other hand, is primarily a wool-producing nation with mutton meat a lower valued by-product for domestic consumption. Chilled mutton is worth roughly half of what chilled lamb is. Livestock Shipping Services exports both live and chilled meat from WA to the Middle East. LSS recently purchased export shippers from WA farmers for over $100 a head, but managing director Paul Keenan informed me that, if these shippers were slaughtered at the Hillside abattoir in Narrogin, they would have only returned around $70 per head. General manager Ahmad Ghosheh added that the current capacity to move chilled product to the Middle East is full and that it will continue to diminish with the withdrawal of Etihad Airways daily flight from Perth to the Middle East.

Meanwhile, last month Al Mawashi, the Kuwaiti livestock transport and trading company that buys most of the 1.8 million live sheep exported from Australia, warned of wider ramifications for Australian agricultural commodities. CEO Usama Boodai stated:

… doubts about Australian sheep means Al Mawashi is already looking to find other secure sources of livestock—

in countries such as Somalia and Romania. He also said:

This could also bring into question the significant volumes of fodder we import for feeding Australian sheep in our feedlots, as well as the chilled and frozen sheep meat we also import.

In closing, I commend the minister for the strong stand he has taken with the imposition of stricter stocking density rates, independent observers on all voyages and significantly increased financial penalty. (Time expired)

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