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

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) Australia's live sheep export industry employs more than 3,000 people in Western Australia and is worth $85 million;

(b) since 2018, this industry has delivered extensive and comprehensive reforms which have significantly improved animal welfare outcomes;

(c) Australia has the highest standards of animal welfare in the world;

(d) Australian sheep are high quality, disease-free and perform well in feedlots and at sea, creating demand overseas for them as a premium product; and

(e) if the trade is banned, alternatives will be sourced from countries that do not have Australia's high animal welfare or quality standards;

(2) condemns the Government for its reckless and ideological decision to forcibly shut down Australia's live sheep export industry;

(3) recognises that the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is the independent regulator of the live animal trade, and any decisions made in respect to the trade should always be predicated on science and independent of government;

(4) calls on the Government to urgently explain what factual evidence or science its decision to ban the live sheep export industry is based on; and

(5) urges the Government to immediately reverse its decision to forcibly shut down this industry.

I come to this chamber to speak on the live export sheep industry, one which I can speak about with some authority because I was the agriculture minister in 2018, when we were confronted with some challenges over which the industry put their hands up and took ownership. From that, the industry showed maturity that you would expect. They engaged in a process to reform the industry to make sure that we, as Australians, as exporters, have the best animal welfare standards in the world—and we do. We moved from a mortality methodology of assessing the success of sheep boats to one of animal welfare, one which is predicated upon science. Tragically, this new government has walked away from this industry, predicated on the fact that, apparently, the science doesn't add up.

Let me explain the science of the live sheep industry on a boat and how it happens. We actually measure the number of pants per minute of a sheep on those boats. We measure the airflow through those vessels to make sure we make the stocking densities that are appropriate to ensure there is no heat stress and, in fact, that animals are putting on weight. But we go even further than that: before they even get on a boat, to the millimetre we will extend how much wool the sheep can have on them and the weight of the animals. No other country does this. In fact, we are leading the world in an area that I think we should be damn proud of instead of the cutting and running this government is undertaking. There are 3,000 families in Western Australia who will no longer have a job in an industry that the government will shut down, predicated on one incident that the industry themselves acknowledged and move forward from.

I cast the minds of those opposite back to 2011, when the cattle industry had an incident in Indonesia. They shut down overnight, and you, the Australian taxpayer, are now paying probably close to $2 billion in compensation, but the cattle industry were given the opportunity to reform, and reform they did. Why is it that the cattle industry was given an opportunity to reform and prove their animal welfare credentials but sheep producers and exporters in Western Australia are not provided that same opportunity when, in fact, the methodology and the science which they have adopted themselves is the most advanced in export industries not only in Australia but around the world?

For all of the moral virtues of those opposite in shutting down this industry, they are exporting the animal welfare standards to other countries—other countries that don't have our standards. In fact, they are still working on a mortality methodology. Let me tell you: they don't count the number of sheep that go on; they put as many as they can on these boats. They're not measuring the airflow through these boats. They're not measuring the pants per minute of the sheep on these boats. They're not measuring the length of wool or the weight. They simply get paid on what's left when they get the boat to dock. We are saying we are going to export the animal welfare standards to countries that have less than ours. Where is the moral compass of animal activists? Where is the moral compass of this government? The welfare of a sheep in Australia should be no different from anywhere else in the world. We have a responsibility to stay, get it right and make sure that it's done properly.

There are those who say, 'Let's have this notion where we'll process them all here in Australia.' That is folly. That is nonsense. Let me tell you, because I have lived experience in this, particularly in the Middle East. I have met with the ministers. In fact, the Prime Minister of Qatar made it very clear to us that, unless we sent them our live sheep, they would not accept our processed sheep. Again, you export those standards to other countries that do not have our animal welfare standards. That is a perverse outcome. That is not common sense. This government, in going over to the Middle East to try to articulate to them that they are going to phase out this industry, in only what can be described as an international incident, sent the department to the wrong ministry in Kuwait to notify them that they were going to take away their food security. That is not just incompetence; that's appalling.

So I say to those opposite: please. The 3,000 families in Western Australia deserve a second opportunity like the cattle industry was given and has taken up. Western Australian farming families deserve that opportunity too.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support this motion moved by the shadow minister for Agriculture. I thank him, and also the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, who travelled to Western Australia recently to reiterate his support and the coalition's support for the industry. There is also the Premier of Western Australia, who supports the industry. The Western Australian minister for agriculture, Jackie Jarvis, also supports the industry. I note that the member for Fremantle will be speaking next. I am interested to hear what the member for Fremantle will say, because this is a particularly Western Australian industry: 97 per cent of the sheep exported out of this country come out of Western Australia.

That is because we have a geographical advantage. Comparisons with New Zealand are complete and utter nonsense. We have a geographical advantage, and we have the product that our Middle Eastern customers absolutely want. It's the premium product. I'll explain why it is so important to the Western Australian industry. For those in the chamber and those more broadly who don't understand—and I wouldn't expect many to—a merino self-replacing flock produces what is called a wether, the castrated male, who really has no value going forward, other than as a slaughter animal. A crossbred sheep, a British bred sheep or an exotic ship from Africa, is bred to produce meat. They are that nice, rounded little sheep that you will see—the roast lamb in the shop—for those of you who aren't vegans. But for those who do enjoy a lamb roast, what you would see in the shop would come from a British breed sheep. The merino wether is not bred to produce meat; it is bred to produce wool. It's not bred to become a fat animal that is suitable for slaughter here, locally. The local processors don't want that sheep, and that is why we are so desperate to retain the live export trade.

Minister Watt announced a panel that will be tasked with phasing out the live export trade, chaired by Philip Glyde, who apparently was part of the Murray-Darling Basin back in the day. The Hon. Warren Snowdon is on the panel, and I wanted to mention that because I give credit to Warren, who was in the House last week. He came to see me to discuss this issue. I certainly gave him my view on how difficult it would be to be to phase the industry out.

Interestingly, the timing of that announcement—3 March—was a few days before the Wagin Woolorama, which is the premier sheep and wool show in Western Australia. About 20,000 people visited. The Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, came along to hear from farmers. What he heard was absolute dismay and fear for the future of the wool industry in Western Australia. As I said, the merino wether is not suitable for domestic slaughter. No matter what the local processors say about, 'We can slaughter all the sheep,' that is complete nonsense. They will not buy those merino sheep if they have alternative British breed sheep available. We saw sheep in the Katanning saleyards the other day, in my hometown. The member for Fremantle has been there. We saw merino wethers with about an inch of wool on them, which is worth about $10 to $20, selling for a dollar a head the other day.

The farmers of Western Australia are desperately worried about their future. If you take this leg out of the merino sheep operation, it then becomes unviable to produce the wool and that ewes that are the other components of that operation. I'll be meeting with sheep producers straight after this. They are very concerned about the future of those 13 million sheep in Western Australia, those 13 million merinos that constitute a very significant wool industry.

Why is that important? It's because in the small country towns across my electorate, you have shearing teams. They make up a big part of the population in some of those small towns. One thing about shearers: they earn a lot of money and work bloody hard, but at the end of the day they go to the local pub and have a few beers—and they've earned those beers, I can tell you. But without those shearing teams in those towns you lose the pub, you lose the shearers, you lose the kids from the school, you lose the school. This is what is going to be the final result of this policy, which is anti-Western Australian, anti-farmer and anti-common sense. As the shadow minister said, we have the best animal welfare standards in the world which we export to these other importing countries. If we take away the Australian presence in the live export trade, those standards are going to drop away dramatically.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.