Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

ARRELL (—) (): The government is committed to protecting animal welfare, and that is exactly why we are opposing this motion. At the May election the Australian people endorsed Labor's policy to phase out the trade of live sheep by sea. Labor is committed to ensuring that live animal exports are well regulated while we work with industry to implement this commitment.

We were surprised to learn that the Greens were seeking to move this disallowance. If this motion were to pass it would produce worse outcomes for animal welfare. In April this year, amendments to the Export Control (Animals) Amendment (Northern Hemisphere Summer Prohibition) Rules 2022 were made to improve the management of heat stress risks for sheep exported in late May. The rules introduce a 10-day conditional prohibition period, preventing export to some Persian Gulf destinations off the back of new data that showed an increase risk of heat stress during this period. That change to the rules strengthens animal welfare. The rules further impose additional conditions, targeted at heat stress risk reduction, that must be met during the designated period. Again, those changes strengthen animal welfare. To disallow this instrument would force the regulators of the live sheep exports to find new and likely weaker measures to protect animal welfare. The government does not want that. The Australian people do not want that. So why are the Greens voting for it?

Voting for this disallowance is a bad outcome for both animal welfare and exporters. The government's commitment to phase out the trade of live sheep by sea reflects community sentiment. Balancing community expectations and the Australian industry remains a key priority for this government. That's why we will continue to support regulators to protect animal welfare as we work with industry to phase out the trade of live sheep at sea.