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

I rise tonight to speak on a topic that I've spoken on in this place a number of times, and that is the impact of the Labor Party's decision to ban the live export of sheep on my home state of Western Australia. One hundred per cent of live sheep come from my home state of Western Australia. They go to important trading partners, mainly in the Middle East, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Oman, Jordan. Those nations account for around 96 per cent of the sheep exported by sea. There are 4,281 sheep businesses in my home state of WA, and every single one of them will be impacted by the Labor Party's decision to ban the live sheep trade.

The Northern Territory Chief Minister—Labor—opposes the ban. The Premier of Western Australia—Labor—opposes the ban. In fact, the entire WA Labor government, including the agriculture minister, opposes the ban. In their submission to the review panel set up by the federal Labor government—and I don't agree with everything they submitted; I think it's a significantly underestimated number—the state Labor government said it's going to cost the WA agriculture industry $123 million. That's not $123 million for the phase-out; it's $123 million every year, and that is a massively underestimated number, if you talk to anyone who's actively involved in the issue.

The ACCC also made a submission to the review panel's inquiry. What did they say? They said that the loss of those markets will reduce competition within the market and drive down the price of sheep. They said Western Australia won't be able to meet the market of those key trading partners, because sheep meat exports will not be directly substitutable into Australia's live export markets. With fewer buyers in the market, this would increase the market power of those buyers, which increases the risk of businesses using unfair trading practices, in their dealings with sheep producers, and risks anticompetitive behaviour. That's what the ACCC said about the Labor Party's ban on live sheep exports.

The phase-out may increase demand for sheep processing facilities in WA. If domestic markets were flooded with excess sheep, this would impose downward pressure on farmgate prices. We've heard from every peak agricultural industry body that this decision is a red line in the sand that should not be crossed. To quote from the industry peak body's submission:

We do not believe it can be 'transitioned out of' in a way that benefits producers. It would be detrimental to rural communities and international markets … The industry's removal would penalise farming families and our international friends, to our country's detriment and at the cost of approximate 3000 jobs in Western Australia.

This is a devastating impact.

It will impact upon the wool industry, and we saw that in the submissions. It will impact on the cattle industry. In estimates, the trade minister didn't even understand that there were dual-purpose boats, leaving from Fremantle for the Middle East, particularly Israel, carrying both sheep and cattle. The trade minister didn't understand that, for those vital Middle Eastern markets, the sheep being on the boats underwrote the cattle being on the boats. This will have impacts right along the supply chain, and it will impact our small regional communities in Western Australia.

Senate adjourned at 20:59