Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This morning in this place I tabled a petition from over 10,000 people—mostly Western Australians, but a few people from other states—calling on this federal Labor government to reverse its position on the banning of the live export trade in sheep. This ban is not backed by any science or any evidence. In fact, when we asked Minister Watt to tell us what the evidence was and to show us the science, in a question on notice, he sent back a one-paragraph extract from a Labor Party policy document. So the science and the evidence behind this ban is, apparently, from the government's point of view, a few words in a Labor Party policy document.

What do the science and evidence show? They show that the industry has done a remarkable job in improving animal welfare outcomes. The annualised mortality rate on board those ships—which I admit is a crude measure of animal welfare, but it is a legitimate measure of animal welfare—is now better than the annualised mortality rate on farm. I ask all Australians to think about that for a moment. The annualised mortality rate is better on those ships than on farm. The 3½ thousand Western Australians who are directly employed in that industry deserve your support to get this decision by the Labor government overturned. Change your mind. There's still time.