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

I rise this evening to discuss the government's announcement last Saturday to put a closure date on the live sheep trade, which predominantly emanates from my electorate in the seat of O'Connor.

Many members here, and probably you more than most, Mr Speaker, over the last couple of years would have heard me talk, like a broken record, about how important this industry is to my electorate, to my people. I'm sure you are thoroughly sick of hearing my opinion on this, so tonight I thought I'd relay the opinions of the Western Australian Premier, Mr Roger Cook, who was quoted in The Sunday Times as saying:

I have been clear right from the start: their plan will negatively impact our regional communities in WA. Our position has been consistent. Their announcement today is simply not good enough.

That was Mr Roger Cook, the Premier of Western Australia, in the Sunday Times.

Moving to today's West Australian, the story here is: 'State Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis blasts Murray Watt over live sheep export ban in scathing letter'. The story says, 'The relationship between state agriculture minister Jackie Jarvis and her federal counterpart Murray Watt appears to be in tatters, with Ms Jarvis telling the Queensland senator his decision over live export "has not been in the interest of Western Australia and it is difficult to see how we can work together collaboratively".' She goes on to say: 'I believe your announcement has added to the negative sentiment of the WA sheep industry at the worst possible time. Given your decision and subsequent package is not in the interest of WA, it is difficult to see how we can work collaboratively.' That was the Western Australian agriculture minister—a Labor agriculture minister for those who aren't aware.

What Ms Jarvis would have been referring to there is the fact that the Western Australian seasonal conditions have deteriorated considerably since we were last here in this place five weeks ago. The state minister stood up a drought response committee and there are serious issues developing on farms. We have had some patchy rain over the Western Australian Wheatbelt and Great Southern and down into the South West regions, but certainly not enough to say that we have got the season off to a good start. There is no rain forecast for the next seven days, and things are getting quite desperate on farms.

The reason the live export trade is critical to this particular issue is that it is an outlet, it is a safety valve for Western Australia farmers to remove large numbers of sheep from their properties at times like this, when they desperately need to get rid of those sheep.

Supplementary feeding prices, grain prices have gone through the roof. Abattoir capacity is fully booked. And those lightweight sheep that Western Australia farmers would normally put on a boat will not be able to be shipped as we come up to the moratorium. The WA ag minister has requested, as have I, that Minister Watt extend that shipping period from 1 June for a few weeks to let us get one, maybe two more boats out. That's 100,000 sheep. That would take a lot of pressure off.

A constituent of mine sent me a text message the other day: there were 11 road trains at the Northam roadhouse loaded with sheep that are being trucked to the east coast. That is how we're currently desperately trying to get rid of sheep out of Western Australia. These are very desperate times for the WA sheep industry, and, along with Minister Jarvis and Premier Cook, I do condemn Minister Watt on the timing of his announcement. It could not have been more insensitive, making this announcement at a time when the Western Australia sheep industry is on its knees.

Now, unsurprisingly, this has provoked absolute outrage among the Western Australia growers. I know there are many farmer groups, farmer organisations, who are mobilising themselves to oppose this particular policy. They seem to be coalescing under the hashtag #keepthesheep. This campaign is being run by some of the farm organisations in WA. I know that they're standing up quite a sophisticated campaign which will target members of parliament who do not support the live sheep trade out of Western Australia. So I foreshadow that, over the next little while, people will hear the slogan or the phrase, 'Keep the sheep,' over and over again. I'll be repeating it in this particular place as often as I can to remind people that the Western Australian sheep industry are on their knees but they are prepared to stand and fight and they are prepared to put the hard yards in to either change the government's mind or, if that's not the case, change the five seats that the Labor Party won in Western Australia at the last election. So #keepthesheep.