Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion on the live sheep export industry. In the history of this place, people would know of my opposition to live animal exports from Australia. Animal cruelty in any circumstance, in any way, is unacceptable. We went to the last election—in fact, the last two elections—and promised that we would phase out live sheep exports. The government was committed to phasing it out. It was a promise that we made, and we'll live up to that promise. We'll see a phase-out of those live sheep exports by sea. Members of the community have expressed a concern about the conditions that sheep experience during the export by sea and on arrival. At the last election Labor listened, and we're delivering.

As I said, in my electorate, I'm contacted continually about the live sheep trade and how people want to see a phase-out or the banning of this unacceptable trade. The cruel trade of live sheep exports needs our attention. I know that the member for Maranoa and others have concerns, but let me just say that we've seen New Zealand ban live exports from later on this year, through legislation that was passed in their parliament. We made a commitment to phase out live sheep exports, and we're sticking to that commitment. The commitment was endorsed by the Australian public at the last federal election.

We hear about industries being decimated, but that is not the concern. The concern is that the industry will not be decimated. Deputy Speaker, let me just refresh your memory, and especially the memory of the South Australian MPs that are in here. Back in the seventies and eighties, we had 3,000 people working at the Gepps Cross slaughterhouse. Where are those 3,000 people today? If you want to talk about an industry that has been put out of business, where was the outcry then? We have a great opportunity to value-add to this industry. Our meat industry is a great industry, and we can slaughter meat here in Australia, box it and export it. It is a great opportunity to value-add, to bring more money into the country and to help with our exports. We've seen in Kuwait one of the largest slaughterhouses built anywhere in the world. And yet, what happens is that we send our live trade over to Kuwait, and it gets boxed—a lot of it—and sent to other parts of the Middle East. They are the ones that are value-adding and making money from it when we could be doing that.

As I said earlier, the department of agriculture recognises the huge implications of heat stress on the animals. There's clear evidence showing that recklessly subjecting sheep to prolonged periods of heat in trade is unacceptable. No matter what science you look at, the science is unanimous, and we cannot ignore it. The cries from the Australian people are loud and clear. It's time to stop measuring the rates of animal welfare based on mortality. We need to make the welfare of animals a priority. There is a great opportunity here to value-add to this industry, which will assist our farmers, who do a great job. It will assist the economy of this nation and create jobs. As I said, there were meatworks all over Australia before the eighties—before we started exporting live animals. Those jobs have all gone, but we can rebuild those jobs. We can value-add to the product, we can box the meat and we can send it overseas, just like New Zealand will be doing.

We need to be serious about actively implementing change, and that's why it's a phase-out period. We should be gradually, slowly bringing the industry with us and looking for markets where we can export boxed meat. From my electorate, I've heard the message loud and clear. We went to the last election, we made the promise, and we're now committed to that promise. We're bringing it in. Enough is enough with this trade. Live sheep export is cruel and unsustainable. No matter which way you package it, no matter which way you box it or which way you put ribbons on it, it is cruel. It is not only cruel for the animals; it's also cruel to the economy. We can value-add to this area, create jobs here in Australia and export the meat. We understand farmers and exporters and local communities will be concerned. Of course they'll be concerned, but it's time we phased this out.

See this speech in context