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

I seek leave to move the following motion:

That the House:

(1) notes that:

(a) approximately 15,000 sheep and cattle onboard the MV Bahijah have endured inhumane conditions at sea for more than 30 days since being loaded in Fremantle for export to Jordan;

(b) the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has rejected an application to re-export the livestock for what would have been another month or more at sea;

(c) the Department is now waiting on the private exporter to decide how to proceed, resulting in uncertainty and the prolonged suffering of these animals; and

(d) the longer the animals remain on board the greater the risk of illness, disease and death; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) intervene immediately to ensure the welfare of the livestock on the MV Bahijah by bringing the animals onshore and into quarantine;

(b) suspend all live animal exports through the Red Sea until the current conflict in the region is over and the risk to crew and animals subsides; and

(c) finally commit to a timeline for the phase out of live sheep exports and legislate an end date immediately.

Leave not granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for Clark from moving the following motion—That the House:

(1) notes that:

(a) approximately 15,000 sheep and cattle onboard the MV Bahijah have endured inhumane conditions at sea for more than 30 days since being loaded in Fremantle for export to Jordan;

(b) the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has rejected an application to re-export the livestock for what would have been another month or more at sea;

(c) the Department is now waiting on the private exporter to decide how to proceed, resulting in uncertainty and the prolonged suffering of these animals; and

(d) the longer the animals remain on board the greater the risk of illness, disease and death; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) intervene immediately to ensure the welfare of the livestock on the MV Bahijah by bringing the animals onshore and into quarantine;

(b) suspend all live animal exports through the Red Sea until the current conflict in the region is over and the risk to crew and animals subsides; and

(c) finally commit to a timeline for the phase out of live sheep exports and legislate an end date immediately.

There is an urgent need to address this crisis, and this parliament cannot wait one moment longer to do just that. Here we have approximately 15,000 animals, mostly sheep, although it also includes about 2½ thousand head of cattle, who have already been afloat for some 30 days in the stifling heat of WA, and they've travelled across the equator and back to the stifling heat of WA. The conditions on this vessel are already well known to all of us, and it beggars belief that we even have to have a debate about doing something urgently about the conditions on this vessel.

We've seen all this before. We've seen the footage. Remember the footage from the Awassi Express with the sheep just literally drowning in their own filth? Well, spare a thought for the 15,000 animals, mostly sheep, on the vessel off WA right now. For a start, the vessel is stationary, so there's no movement of air across the decks. We can only speculate how stiflingly hot it is and how much panting is going on by those long-suffering animals to try and keep their body temperature down. Yes, there have been vets go out to the vessel, and, yes, the vets have said the deaths have been limited, but what about the 15,000 live animals and the terrible conditions in which they are right now?

Yes, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has denied permission for the vessel to set sail again via the Cape of Good Hope and up through the Mediterranean into Israel, where the sheep and cattle might be offloaded and taken on the road journey across and into Jordan, but, bizarrely, the department is still leaving the next steps up to the exporter. I don't care if that's somehow in the legislation and that's somehow the process to let the exporter make the decision about the next step. If that's what the legislation requires, the government should start acting like the government, come in here this afternoon and change the law, because what is needed right now is urgent, political intervention. If that requires changing any regulations or any laws of the land then it must be done. It demands urgent political intervention.

This isn't just about the conditions on the Bahijah; it's about the state of the live animal export industry more broadly. We know it is systemically cruel, and it's not just about a few high-profile episodes like the Awassi Express and now the Bahijah. You look back over the last 10 or 15 years, and it's been expose after expose, whistleblower after whistleblower. What about all those episodes many people have probably already forgotten about? What about the load of Australian sheep that were offloaded in Pakistan and then we saw the images of the live sheep literally being bulldozed, thrown into pits and buried alive? That's the face of this industry. That's the reality of it. It's not like the Bahijah, the Awassi Express or even those sheep being buried alive in Pakistan was a one-off case. The fact is the conditions on every one of these vessels are absolutely intolerable. This is something that is systemically cruel, and the only way to end the cruelty is to end the trade and to process those animals within Australia.

There's an idea that we've got to keep labouring away with this cruelty on an industrial scale because it's such an important industry, adding so much value to our country and employing so many workers, but that's nonsense. It's complete and patent nonsense. The fact is that live sheep export constitutes about 0.1 per cent of Australia's agricultural output. I'll say that again: the live sheep export industry is one-tenth of one per cent of the value of Australia's agricultural production. It's that tiny. Even in WA, where people are so blind to the cruelty, blindly supporting an indefensible industry, the live sheep export trade is worth—wait for it—one per cent of WA's agricultural output. That's all: one per cent. To put that in perspective, Australia's agricultural output is about $80 billion a year, and the live sheep export trade is about $85 million a year. To the degree that it employs workers, of course I have sympathy for those workers, but no job can justify cruelty on an industrial scale. I'll say that again: no job can justify cruelty on an industrial scale. Mark my words: there'd be a darn sight more workers employed if we processed those animals within Australia and then we exported a premium, value-added product—frozen and chilled meat. It's not like overseas markets won't buy the product when it's been processed. In fact, annually, we export about $4.5 billion of processed lamb and mutton and $85 million of live sheep. Much of that processed lamb and mutton goes to the Middle East, to the exact same markets where we're sending shiploads of long-suffering animals.

The government must stop talking about winding up the live sheep export trade, especially to the Middle East. I give the government credit: at least they're talking about it. This mob over here won't even have a conversation about it. But it's no good talking about it if that's all you do. Let's stop the discussion. Let's have a time line. Let's legislate the time line. Let's give certainty to the export industry or to those people currently involved in the export industry, and to the farmers, so they can start planning and implementing the change necessary for life after live exports.

Opposition members interjecting—

For the people over here who have interjected constantly for the last 8½ minutes, I'll quote a fella called Alexander von Humboldt.

Opposition members interjecting—

I'm saying this to all of you who have been interjecting for the last nine minutes.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You need to direct your comments through the chair.

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

Deputy Speaker, I apologise. The quote reads:

Cruelty to animals is one of the most significant vices of a low and ignoble people. Wherever one notices them, they constitute a sign of ignorance and brutality which cannot be painted over even by all the evidence of wealth and luxury.

In other words, it is inexcusable that anyone would come in here and, in good conscience, try to defend an indefensible industry.

This industry will end one day, mark my words! It's the people in this place who have fought tooth and nail to stop the ban of the trade who have given false hope to the farmers and who have stood in the way of reform and implementing a proper, well-funded transition plan. They are the people letting the farmers of this country down, as well as the animals.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for this motion?

Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, there is, I second the motion, and I rise to support the member for Clark's motion calling on the government to:

(a) intervene immediately to ensure the welfare of the livestock on the MV Bahijah by bringing the animals onshore and into quarantine;

(b) suspend all live animal exports through the Red Sea until the current conflict in the region is over and the risk to crew and animals subsides; and

(c) finally commit to a timeline for the phase out of live sheep exports and legislate an end date immediately.

Not only does my community of North Sydney care very passionately about this really distressing issue but, as someone who grew up on farms in regional and rural New South Wales, I know that there are many people in the bush who would be unhappy to see this situation we are currently in.

The mistreatment of any animal is abhorrent, and farmers themselves are the first advocates for good treatment of livestock. All animals deserve to be treated humanely. Urgent action is needed to end the current ordeal of these animals—the animals on this ship now—and to end the cruelty and suffering of the live export trade in general. These animals have been through enough. They have been stranded on this vessel since 5 January—that's almost a month, colleagues. Sheep don't belong on boats on the water for that long—on a stationary vessel. They are packed together with other animals in their thousands in extremely hot and humid conditions, and this must stop. I want to point out that I acknowledge there have been vets out to the vessel and that there are vets on the vessel, but I would ask my colleagues to acknowledge that animals do not do best on a stationary boat on the water. This is not something we should be fighting over; this case is exceptional and we should be working as a government to bring these animals to shore.

While I welcome the department of agriculture's decision to reject the exporter's application to re-export the animals stranded on board the vessel, I remain concerned that the exporter will apply for another re-export application while these animals continue to suffer. The government can and must act to reduce and alleviate animal suffering, and to ensure the best possible outcome for these animals. They must also act to ensure that this doesn't happen again, by delivering on their promised phase-out of live sheep exports and stopping ocean traffic through the Red Sea at this point in time.

Australia's live export industry has demonstrated time and time again its willingness to condemn animals to extreme risk of suffering and death in the name of profits, and we have an opportunity to counter this right now. In 2019 the Labor Party committed to phasing out live sheep exports over five years but, since coming to power, the government has done nothing and we're yet to see a commitment to the time line. While late last year the government expanded the functions of the Inspector-General of Live Animal Exports to include increased oversight, accountability and transparency for animal welfare of exported livestock, I see no evidence of that role at work here. How can we allow this cruelty to continue whilst failing to deliver on promises?

I join the member for Clark in calling on the government to ensure the welfare of the livestock on board the MV Bahijah and to stop allowing live export ships to travel through the tumultuous Red Sea whilst conflict continues. We must hold the government to account to deliver on their promise to phase out live sheep exports.

Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very glad to make a contribution to this debate, which is prompted by the latest animal welfare crisis brought to us by the live sheep animal export trade. I thank the member for Clark for bringing it forward. I acknowledge the consistency of his interest in animal welfare.

The motion goes to two matters. It goes to the crisis involving the MV Bahijah, which still sits off the coast of Fremantle, and it goes to the challenge of managing the end of what has been for a long time a marginal, unnecessary and inherently harmful trade: the live sheep export industry.

Right now, as the member for Clark has noted, there are more than 10,000—12,000 or 13,000—sheep and some few thousand cattle on board the MV Bahijah, approved to travel to Jordan via the Red Sea. The exporters themselves made a decision that it wasn't viable and that the contingency plan that they had in place wasn't viable either. As a result of that they were forced to come back to Western Australia. Those animals have been on that vessel now for 33 days, and they were on that vessel in heatwave conditions last week. In a few days time, apparently, Perth will experience 40-degree temperatures again, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And the longest live sheep voyage to the Middle East in calendar year 2022 was for 23 days.

The length of confinement on board these vessels is a matter of animal welfare, and every sensible person in every part of this House knows that we have rules for how long animals can be confined in lots of circumstances—like how long they can be confined on trucks—and, rightly, we ascribe animal welfare impacts to the confinement of animals on metal ships at sea. Sometimes they're forced to stand in their own waste and they're always forced to endure the motion of ship and the other impacts, including heat stress. People over there talk about mortality and people on the other side talk about whether or not animals put on weight. I tell you what: human beings on death row put on weight, so you're not going to tell me that a living creature, provided with a huge amount of food, which is putting on weight is the only measure of whether or not that animal is suffering. You're not going to tell me that animals that have spent their entire lives and their existence as a species on land enjoy being on stinking metal ships for weeks at a time. They do not. All the evidence about heat stress and other measures of animal welfare show that animals suffer in those conditions.

These animals have been on that ship for 33 days; that's already 10 days longer than the longest voyage in 2022. The proposition from the exporters was that they would be re-exported for a voyage that would probably take another 33 days. That would have made it the longest voyage of its kind in Australian history. On previous occasions when voyages of that duration have been attempted, we have seen animal welfare atrocities. That's the nature of this trade. So it's very welcome that the independent regulator has made the decision not to approve the re-export of those animals. The best course of action now is for them to come off the ship as soon as possible—for them to come off the ship and no longer suffer from those conditions.

The second issue that the member for Clark raised is about the sensible, long-awaited transition out of the trade altogether. To pick up on what the member for North Sydney said: it's just not fair, or true, to say that the government has done nothing. We committed to the phasing out of this trade. That should have been done responsibly a long time ago by the former government. We're committed to doing it. Within weeks of the election, the minister for agriculture came to Western Australia and began the proper process to transition out. He began the meetings and he established the independent panel. The independent panel did its proper consultative work and they have now provided a report to the minister. Of course, in due course we expect that the minister will come forward with both a plan and a timetable to properly and responsibly transition out of a trade that is marginal, unnecessary and has always been inherently harmful. Nobody on that side can say that it hasn't been harmful, when they themselves put a moratorium in place to stop the trade during the course of the northern summer. Their own McCarthy review said that every time ships went during that period, unacceptable animal heat stress occurred. So they implemented the summer moratorium. Until they implemented the summer moratorium, of course, for year after year after year Australian animals had been subject to confinement and unacceptable heat stress—this was as determined by the review and the response was what they implemented. All of this rubbish about mortality and animals putting on weight—they know, and farmers know, it is rubbish. Those animals suffer and their suffering is intolerable. The Australian community won't accept it. In Western Australia, 70 per cent of people in metropolitan areas and 69 per cent in rural and regional areas want to see the trade come to an end.

And it's marginal. People have trouble with the word 'marginal'. How else would you describe an industry that has declined by more than 90 per cent from its peak? How else would you describe that industry? It is worth less than one per cent of WA agricultural exports, as the member for Clark said, less than 0.1 per cent of Australia's agricultural exports as a whole and less than two per cent of sheep meat exports. It is not necessary.

All the fearmongering about what would happen through the decline and ultimately the end of this trade has failed to come true. Between 2013 and 2023, that 10-year period alone, when the industry declined by more than 75 per cent, the sheep flock in Western Australia remained exactly the same at 14 million sheep. There was no decline in the Western Australian sheep flock when the live sheep trade declined by three-quarters. Wool production out of Western Australia in that same period, measure it in 2013, measure it in 2023. It did not decline at all over that period despite a 75 per cent decline in the live sheep export trade. All of this 'the roof is going to fall in', all of this 'it is an essential trade; we can never see this trade disappear' has failed to manifest in any of the ways in which people who support the industry claimed that it would. There has been no diminution in the size of the Western Australian sheep flock, no diminution in the quantity of wool exported and no noticeable difference economically in jobs or other broader economic impacts to the Western Australian sheep industry. In fact, in 2021, Western Australian wheat-sheep farms were noted as the most profitable farms of their kind on the globe, and that was after this industry had already diminished by up to 85 per cent.

So we are doing the responsible thing by managing out of an industry that is virtually defunct, that has produced animal welfare harm and, in some cases, acute animal welfare disasters, over and over again. Unfortunately, for the previous nine years, despite all those facts staring those opposite in the face, they did nothing. In fact, they made it worse. They reduced animal welfare regulation, they turned a blind eye and they were an apologist for some of the exporters and their outcomes, but not everyone on the other side, though.

The deputy Liberal leader, the member for Farrer in 2018 brought a private member's bill to end the live sheep trade. It was supported by the member for La Trobe and by the then member for Corangamite, who is now Senator Henderson in the other place. At that time, the deputy leader of the Liberal Party said that the live sheep trade is 'a trade in terminal decline'. The member for Farrer said the live sheep trade is 'an operating model built on the suffering of animals'. The deputy leader said, 'I think this trade in sheep is a shame and a stain on our international reputation.' And the current deputy leader of the Liberal Party, the member for Farrer, said, 'One thing I've learned after 17 years in parliament is when you believe you need to do something, you must do it and never take a backward step.'

Well, we know that this is a marginal, unnecessary and inherently harmful trade. All Australians know that. All of the scientific and economic evidence shows that. We change our practices in this country in respect of our high-quality, high-output and high-value agricultural sector as we learn and as we improve. There have been other aspects of primary production of enormous value to this country that have changed and improved over time, and we can pick many of them. We don't get eggs from battery hens anymore because we recognise that that was intolerably cruel. We don't need the live sheep trade. We are managing the end of that trade but we're doing it in a responsible way.

I hear what the member for Clarke is calling for. I want those animals to come of the MV Bahijah tomorrow. That is for the exporter to determine in consultation with the independent regulator, quite properly. I want to see the sensible end of the live sheep export trade as soon as possible. That is what we committed to, that is what the Albanese Labor government is delivering, and that is what the minister for agriculture is working on.

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

I'll begin my response to the member for Clark's motion by quoting from the industry body, the Australian Livestock Exporters Council:

Further to our statement of 1 February, we continue to be genuinely disappointed that activist groups, in particular the RSPCA, and some politicians spread misinformation and untruths about conditions onboard the vessel. In many instances, it was deliberately misleading, and we would expect much better from groups such as the RSPCA and our elected parliamentarians.

I'll put on the record the conditions on that particular vessel. Yes, the vessel left Fremantle on 5 January. It sailed for 10 days, until the owners of the vessel deemed it unsafe to continue through the Red Sea. The vessel was turned around and returned to Fremantle, where it has been parked in Gage Roads, out near Rottnest, for the last seven days. The members talked about the intolerable heat. Well, the member for Fremantle would know that many people transit through Fremantle on their way to Rottnest on those very warm days—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is the motion moved by the member for Clark be agreed to.