Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

In essence this bill seeks to permanently ban the export of live animals for slaughter from 1 July 2022 and puts in place steps to ensure that, in the interim, live animals are treated humanely after they are exported. There is a desperate need for this bill to be progressed in this place, because there's a desperate need for this country to shut down the vile live animal export industry. It is an industry that is systemically cruel, it's clearly not in this nation's economic self-interest, and it lacks broad public support.

When I talk about cruelty, how many more exposes do we need to see in the media before everyone—including the government and the opposition—understands that the trade must be shut down? People would remember the shocking images on Four Corners in 2011 to do with the treatment of Australian beef cattle in slaughterhouses in Indonesia. More recently, last year, we saw the remarkable whistleblower revelations from the Awassi Express recorded in 2017—a ship of shame on which thousands of sheep were to die. All of the sheep travelled in appalling conditions. It is also important to note that this industry is not in Australia's economic self-interest. So I say to the members of the government and to the members of the opposition that even if you, bizarrely, don't care about animal welfare, surely you would care about the economic impact on this country. That can't be underestimated.

I don't know whether people in this place understand the scope of the live animal export industry. I'll illustrate it with some figures. In 2018 alone, there were 324 live export voyages. When I saw that figure this morning, I thought my offsider in my office had made a mistake. I thought that it must be 32 or something—but no. Last year, there were 324 live animal export voyages from this country, carrying between them well over one million beef cattle and almost 1.3 million sheep. That is a staggering number of livestock. With every one of those sheep or cattle that left our shores, with it went jobs that would have been in Australian abattoirs, that would have operated to the world's best animal welfare standards and that would have employed thousands upon thousands of Australians.

The live animal export trade doesn't have public support. Opinion poll after opinion poll shows clearly that, apart from a small number of producers in the sheep and cattle industry, apart from a very small number of exporters and apart from, seemingly, a lot of politicians in this place, there ain't much support elsewhere for the live animal export trade. In fact, it's the stuff of nightmares for many Australians. It's the stuff of nightmares for many of my constituents who are not being represented by the government or the opposition when it comes to their view on the live animal export industry.

After the Awassi Express, the government made a lot of promises and sought to reassure Australians that yes, there had been some problems with the live animal export trade, but they would fix it. The government said that it would listen to the science and it would ensure that a scientific response—not an emotional response—was forthcoming. But did they deliver? No, because all the government delivered this year was a ban from June until late September, when the Australian Veterinary Association unambiguously recommended a ban from May to October—an additional two months—to ensure that Australian sheep did not have to suffer through the horrid Northern Hemisphere summer on those ships and when they got there. So the government hasn't listened to the science.

The government also said that independent observers would be on every live animal export ship, but it had been revealed in Senate estimates that only about 36 per cent of live animal export ships have had independent observers—not good enough. The government said that things would improve, but those independent observers who are on the minority of ships have witnessed terrible things. Some of the things that those independent observers have seen over the last 18 months are 'sheep suffering from heat stress' and 'sheep mired in mounds of wet faeces'. These aren't my words; these are the reports of the independent observers on some of the live animal export ships—at least those on which there is an independent observer. There have been cattle mired in mounds of wet faeces; sheep blinded from infectious eye diseases; lambs being born and then killed on board; a steer suddenly dying during unloading; a steer breaking his leg during loading; a steer escaping during loading, being caught, then euthanased; cattle with leg injuries, lameness and eye infections; cattle suffering and dying from gastroenteritis; contaminated or empty water troughs; the failure to immediately treat injured and ill cattle on the vessels; the same syringe being used to administer medication to all animals throughout an entire voyage because apparently it was going to cost the exporters too much to use more than one syringe for a whole ship of animals; the inappropriate storing of medications; and, in one case, the crew of the export vessel killing and eating an animal on board—which, for the record, is not allowed. Thank God we have independent observers on at least some vessels, otherwise we wouldn't have the facts of the matter—that the government has not delivered on its promise to improve conditions for stock on those vessels.

The government also said—heavens, there have been a lot of things the government has promised and not delivered!—it would outlaw two-tier stock decking, which is when you put an extra little deck just above the heads of the stock on the lower deck. But, of course, what's happened? We've learned just in recent days through the media that the government has bowed to lobbyists and is going to allow two-tier decking on some vessels. Clearly we need to shut the live animal export trade down. It's systemically cruel. To quote members of the opposition: it's unredeemable; it can't be fixed. The only way to end the cruelty of the live animal export industry is to end the industry. That's what the community wants. That's what will enhance our country's reputation as an ethical producer of food.

And then we need to go beyond the live animal export industry and address the animal welfare crisis in this country. What about the shocking footage recently of the mistreatment of thoroughbred racehorses in Queensland and the revelation that thousands of horses are being turned into pet food because they're past their use-by date or they don't run fast enough? Or what about the story more recently of the young bull at the Royal Hobart Show, where it was being used to entertain the crowd but broke its leg and had to be put down? Or what about the news in TheMercurytoday that 18 thoroughbred racing horses have been put down in Tasmania during the last two years alone during races or during training?

And then there are all the other issues, such as the more broadly spread cruelty in the thoroughbred horseracing industry through the use of the whip, which has been outlawed in many countries overseas. There's the cruelty in steeplechasing and harness racing and the continuing and well-understood cruelty in the greyhound racing industry. There is the raising of poultry and particularly cage eggs. There is the use of racks for pigs. There is the cruelty in the dairy industry and the aquaculture industry. There is the use of rodeos. It is basically the use of cruelty to entertain human beings. Then there are puppy and kitten farms. Not only do we need to shut down the live animal export trade; we need the government to then establish a genuinely independent national office of animal welfare, an office with teeth that can investigate allegations of animal mistreatment and can punish those who would be cruel to our animals.

In closing, I offer a positive comment to the millions of people in this country who do care about animals. We have made some progress. Abattoirs in Indonesia have improved their practices. There has been some limit put on the shipping of sheep to the Middle East during the height of the northern summer. But there is so much more to do, starting with everyone in this place—the government and the opposition—starting to represent their constituents and not a small number of people in the live animal export industry. I commend the bill to the House.

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