David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Export Control Amendment (Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea) Bill 2024 be referred to the Standing committee on Agriculture for consideration and an advisory report at 8 October 2024.

I move this under standing order 143. I believe that it's important, when a government is about to make such an important decision on the livelihoods of 3,000 Western Australians, that it shows them respect, not the contempt that it has shown these men and women who have lawfully gone about their business, in a lawful trade, with the best animal welfare standards in the world. They are having that ripped away from them, taken away, without proper consultation. Even the panel that the government put up was giving only 24 or 48 hours notice to farmers to turn up—and that was invited farmers, not all farmers. They were not public meetings where everyone could come and understand what was being put to them. But people were asked to turn up within 24 hours and told, 'Give up your farming practices for the day'—in the middle of sowing, in the middle of shearing—'to hear why we're doing this.' What contempt for a government to do that to its own people!

So it's important that these men and women in Western Australia are heard about why their livelihoods are being ripped away from them all because of ideology. There is no scientific or economic reason why this trade should stop. In fact, what you are going to see by Australia shutting down the live sheep export industry is the senseless and horrific deaths of millions of sheep from around the world, from the markets that take up our place—countries like Ethiopia, Sudan, South Africa. They will be the ones that export sheep—

See this speech in context