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

I wish to briefly—and I emphasise that, because we seem to want to move on—take note of the Export Control Act report on livestock mortalities. This is a regular reporting requirement of the livestock industry, and it's something that I have spoken of in this chamber a number of times. But I just want, as we continue the debate on the ban on the live export of sheep, to point out the remarkable achievements of that industry in improving mortality rates not just over the last couple of year but consistently over a time period.

The mortality rates revealed in this documentation are, for cattle, 0.06 per cent and, for sheep, 0.14 per cent. When you consider that for livestock, generally speaking, on a rule-of-thumb basis in farming you use about a four-to-one or five-to-one ratio, sheep producers are actually achieving extraordinarily good outcomes on the back of significant policy change. This is not an industry that sat on its hands and just said, 'There's nothing we can do in the face of a desire from certain parts of the community to see change.' It has actually changed significantly. The industry itself took the decision to stop shipping during the northern summer months, which were, of course, the most high-risk months. That was then codified by government, but the fact is that it was the industry that voluntarily put that moratorium in place. The industry also went along with the ESCAS, even though it was a regulatory imposition that resulted in lower numbers of livestock leaving this country. They went along with that because they understood that it was necessary in order to preserve their industry. So this is an industry that, in the face of some public concern, has actually undertaken significant reform on its own. They've actually changed the way they do business and, in doing so, they have achieved record-low mortality rates.

Mortality rates aren't the only measure of animal welfare, and I've said that before in this place a number of times. Probably the best measure of animal welfare is whether or not stock gain weight on board ship. Everyone who is involved in animal husbandry knows that stressed animals do not gain weight; they lose weight. The consistent performance data from live export ships is that those animals either stay at the same weight or slightly gain weight during the voyage. So this mortality information should not be taken just on its own, and I'd encourage all Australians out there to look at the work being done by the Livestock Collective, and particularly the Sheep Collective, on the way the supply chain in live animal exports, particularly live sheep exports, works in practice. They've got footage from on board the ship. They've got footage from within the feedlots. They show you what really happens, and from that people can then make an informed decision. If they were making a decision based on science and evidence, they would know that what this Labor government is doing in seeking to ban the live export of sheep is against all science and all evidence. All science and all evidence points to the fact that this industry has changed, is on a sustainable footing, does have animal welfare at the heart of it and is a part of our farming system that should continue. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.