Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management. In 2018, Minister Littleproud said he was shocked and gutted by footage of thousands of suffering sheep being cooked alive aboard the live export ship Awassi Express. All of Australia was shocked and appalled by this unspeakable cruelty to animals which has been going on for decades. While the government refuses to shut down live animal exports, it did implement a ban on live sheep exports to the Northern Hemisphere during summer months because of the excruciating suffering that heat stress inflicts. Now that you've made a mockery of your own rules by granting an exemption to the Al Kuwait, a ship scheduled to leave Fremantle today, I ask: why did the government bother instituting new rules for live exports if it had no intention of enforcing them?