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

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Watt) and the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to questions without notice asked by Senators Faruqi and Rice today relating to live sheep exports and to Tibet.

Animal welfare advocates are having to do the government's job yet again. ABC's 7.30 aired heart-wrenching footage of Australian sheep collapsed in exhaustion and cowering in pain and fear. The brutality of this trade extends well beyond the suffering on the ships of misery. This was really hard to watch. Australian regulators are failing to ensure the welfare of sheep again and again. They can't put independent observers on every ship that meets the criteria. They can't stop every incident of cruelty. They can't ensure compliance. All this points to one thing and one thing alone: this cruel trade is irredeemable and must be shut down.

It's good that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has reaffirmed Labor's commitment to phasing out live sheep exports, but it's deeply disappointing that he has refused to commit to legislating an end date for the phase-out in this term of parliament. This is despite immense community pressure to do so. This is what people want and expect. A quarter of Australians think there should be an immediate ban on live exports, while 59 per cent believe the phase-out should happen within two years. Over 43,000 Australians have signed a petition calling for an end to live sheep exports as quickly as possible, and this was tabled by a member of the government in the House today.

Labor have been promising to end live sheep exports for years. They went to the last two federal elections with this policy. But today the minister has, sadly, refused to confirm that Labor will be legislating to end live sheep exports within this term of parliament. In saying this, Minister Watt is ignoring the community and the reality of the suffering, deaths and stress that hundreds of thousands of sheep are forced to endure. This makes a mockery of any claims that they care about animal welfare. How many sheep will need to suffer and die before Labor end this horrific trade? Labor must move faster. Legislate the date in this term and end this trade of misery within two years.