Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Prior to my contribution, I wish to add senators to this motion who've come to me since it's been lodged. In addition to National Party Senators Davey, Canavan, Nampijinpa Price, McDonald and Cadell, I'd like to add Senators Brockman, O'Sullivan, Reynolds, Cash and McGrath. I, and also on behalf of Senators Davey, McDonald, Nampijinpa Price, Canavan, Cadell, Brockman, O'Sullivan, Reynolds, Cash and McGrath, move:

That the provisions of the Export Control Amendment (Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea) Bill 2024 be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 25 November 2024.

Here we have another tick-and-flick, cheap-and-dirty attempt by the Labor Party to consult the communities they have continued to abuse for over two years after coming to power. The pathway to the Lodge for Anthony Albanese was paved through Western Australia. What has he done? East coast Labor has turned their back on the west. How have they done this? They have instigated the ban on live sheep trade forthwith.

In Senate estimates, the minister made it very clear: 'It is Senate inquiries that do the legislation inquiries, and I'm sure that will happen.' Well, Minister Watt, now it is time to stand up for the agriculture community. Now is the time to actually put your political muscle and mouth—which is always on show—to work. Give us the Senate inquiry that you promised industry and that industry, our exporters, our producers and our regional communities, particularly in Western Australia, have requested after the absolute sham process in the other place, which was an abomination and a shame on what should be good consultation.

This government, time and time again, has made decision after decision that undermines the legitimacy and the strength and the prosperity of our mighty agriculture industry. As Australia's first female agriculture minister and having had the great privilege of serving the industry and serving our country, I know firsthand what a world-class live sheep export industry we have out of the west. In terms of servicing culturally appropriate protein to the Middle East, you love to talk about cultural appropriation but not when talking about how the Middle East communities would like to receive their food and what sort of industry we have, which is absolutely world-class.

I had the great privilege to head over to Muresk, in the great state of WA, for the second of those Senate inquiries, to hear directly from primary producers, from advocacy bodies, from local champions, from those employing thousands of people in the West. And don't think this is a west coast problem. When this occurs, as is already happening, it's having a flow-on impact to the east coast industry as well. In Muresk, the Keep the Sheep campaign spokesperson, Benno, was very clear: 'The clear message we want to send today, come and look us in the eye and see the people you're hurting. Listen to our stories. Do you think you know better than us?' Thank you, Benno. It's the transport operator. It's the supply chain. It's not just the primary producers. Glenn Sterle comes in here and talks a big game backing truckies. Now is his opportunity to do that. He could actually chair the legislation inquiry that the minister has promised and that the Senate and these communities deserve.

The Keep the Sheep petition has over 44,000 signatures in a single week. It's up to 60,000 now. Log onto any of our Facebook pages if you want to show your support for this great, world-class industry. Brownie also said, 'Labor is actually wanting to take away our livelihoods and potentially our lives.' We heard from farmer Leanne Dring: 'This was a line-in-the-sand moment. I never thought that at the age of 60 I would have to fight for a social licence to feed the world.' Well, under Anthony Albanese and Murray Watt, that's exactly what you have to do. He'll come in and say, 'We had an election commitment, and we're going through with it.' At least have the decency to look these people in the eye and give them the opportunity to put their case. Over 13,000 submissions were received to the House of Representatives inquiry. They haven't even been able to be uploaded and publicly available. If that happened in one of the Greens' or the Labor Party's Senate inquiries, there would be an uproar that we were silencing the people. But, when it is an industry that underpins the regions and the seven million of us that live out there, this government doesn't care. This motion is about giving them a voice.

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

():  Ending live sheep exports is a commitment that has been well known for some years, and it has been well consulted. Labor went to both the 2019 and 2022 federal elections committing to phase out live sheep exports by sea. In government, we've overseen a significant consultation on how to implement that commitment and implement it in a way that delivers jobs and opportunities to regional Australia. The coalition, apparently, wants to stand in the way of these opportunities. They want to stand in the way of the certainty that industry needs to navigate the future, a future with a four-year phase-out, a future with $100 million of investment for new opportunities, a future that has long been signalled, has been extensively consulted and has been well known for some time.

The independent panel, which we established, consulted on how and when this phase-out could occur. Between March and October last year, it went out and sought views about how this would work. The independent panel hosted over 2,000 people at in-person forums and 330 attendees at virtual forums. They held 80 meetings with organisations and farmer representative groups. They received over 800 written submissions and over 3,000 survey responses. Through all of this consultation, they made their 28 recommendations to government, including the recommendation to end the export in four years' time. That was the recommendation that was made by the independent panel. This recommendation was strongly informed by the overwhelming decline of the live sheep export industry. In 2022-23, live sheep exports by sea represented less than one per cent of the total value of Australia's sheep exports—less than one per cent!

The government has put forward a bill to address this economic reality. The bill that is before the parliament has been consulted on and it's been examined by members of parliament. It's been examined by members of the coalition. They've had that opportunity. The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture conducted an inquiry into this bill. They've looked into it. They've held two public hearings on it. They've sought the views of everyone. They have received hundreds of submissions. They have received thousands of letters—notably, 7,000 letters in support of the bill. But those opposite just close their eyes, block their ears, and pretend that didn't happen. They pretend that an independent inquiry and another parliamentary inquiry never happened. They ignore all of the evidence before them and they just say, 'No, apparently we need another inquiry.'

Instead of watching the trade, businesses and communities just collapse slowly over time, as live sheep export by sea makes up less than one per cent of the industry today, the government has stepped in to maximise the opportunities that are actually here: to focus on and grow the processing of these animals locally, right here in Australia. We have allocated over $100 million to assist the entire supply chain, including farmers, processors, truckies and shearers. We have allocated $100 million to navigate that transition. This is something that you would think that those opposite would embrace: more jobs in the agriculture sector, more jobs in regional Australia, more support for local businesses, building a new meat processing industry in Australia—

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Where are the WA senators?

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith! Order!

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But they can't pass up the opportunity to play politics with this. They want to pass up all of those opportunities and instead play politics on this issue, play politics with regional Australia and try to block the opportunities that we want to create.

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

The Greens oppose this referral, and that should come as no surprise to anyone in this chamber. The Nationals just can't deal with the fact that this is it. This is it! This is the end of the cruel live export industry which lost its social licence decades ago, and for good reason. It is a barbaric trade that results in the suffering of animals as they are crammed into overcrowded, filthy containers and forced to endure long and gruelling journeys, subjected to extreme temperatures, thirst and hunger, and thousands upon thousands have actually died. There is no need for another inquiry. Everyone knows why this trade must end. The research has been done. Extensive and lengthy stakeholder engagement has been undertaken. The independent panel appointed to investigate a ban on live sheep export has received 800 submissions and over 3,000 survey responses. They met with over 2,000 people and held 96 stakeholder meetings. The 225-page report recommended the phase-out of live sheep export, although of course the Greens would like it to be in 2026 rather than in 2028.

Live exports, we all know, have been in long-term structural decline for decades, and there is now a generous package to transition to the chilled meat trade to provide some sustainability and security. The community knows that sheep are not cargo. Here's why it needs to end. They are not a commodity or a cargo. They are living, breathing, sentient beings, and the horrors inflicted upon them, all for the industry to make profits, are an affront to anything decent and humane. This cruel trade must end, and this cruel trade will end, no matter how many motions the coalition brings into this chamber.

Eighty per cent of submissions to the independent panel supported the end of live export. Eighty-five per cent of submissions to the recent House inquiry supported the end of live sheep export. In 2023, 71 per cent of Western Australians supported the phase-out, including 69 per cent of people in rural and regional areas. In 2022, polling showed that nationally 78 per cent of people support the phase-out of live sheep export. Back in October 2018, I tabled a petition against live sheep exports in the Senate, and it was signed by 238,000 people. That's about 10,000 pages long.

So all the hard work done by the community, animal welfare advocates and activists, whistleblowers and the Greens has finally forced Labor to end live sheep exports, and we're not going to let you undo this historic decision. The motion does nothing other than delay the inevitable. The Nationals are not interested in inquiring into the bill; they just want animal cruelty to continue, and they will not be successful.

I have said this many times, and I will say it again: until this cruel trade ends, live export will remain incompatible with animal welfare, because animal cruelty is at the absolute core of the industry's business model. The coalition would have you believe that animal cruelty is a problem of the past, but that's just plain wrong. In fact, with summer temperatures rising unbearably because of global warming, these ships of misery will get even worse for animals, and no set of standards will make live export ships safe for the sheep. They will still remain ships of misery for the sheep. This cruel trade is irredeemable, and the only option is to shut it down. It was really good to see the bill to end live sheep export pass the House today, and I am looking forward to it coming to the Senate and passing as well, because it is way past time to end live sheep export, and the bill to ensure that must pass immediately.

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

What an utter series of falsehoods we have just heard from those opposite—the Labor Party and the Greens! It is a complete tissue paper of falsehoods. I won't say what I really think, because I'm not supposed to use that word in the chamber, but, quite frankly, this is a disgrace. The committee process in the House of Representatives was an absolute farce. It was one week long. They couldn't even read the majority of submissions they received. They couldn't process them. Two thousand Western Australians turned up in Muresk to say: 'No, do not ban the trade. Keep the sheep. Keep our regional communities. Keep our shearers working. Keep our truckies driving.'

This is a trade that deserves to survive, and we on this side will continue this fight for as long as we need to, because what the Labor Party is doing to the Western Australian sheep industry is an absolute disgrace. Every single Western Australian Labor member in the House of Representatives who voted in favour of banning the trade will suffer at the next election. Whether it is the member for Swan, Zaneta Mascarenhas, whether it is the member for Tangney, Sam Lim, whether it's the member for Hasluck, Tania Lawrence or whether it's the member for Pearce, Tracey Roberts—each and every one of them will pay the price for this ridiculous, ill-informed, counterproductive legislation, a piece of legislation that will actually make animal welfare around the world worse. We heard this at Senate estimates. It will make animal welfare worse because we do not just export live animals; we export animal welfare standards all around the world.

We have seen in the last couple of days a Labor member of parliament crossing the floor to support a cause thousands of miles around the world. Well, I challenge each and every Western Australian member of the Labor Party and the Western Australian Greens to cross the floor to support the thousands of Western Australian farmers and their supporters who have turned out in support of this trade. It is a trade that deserves to thrive. It's a trade that supports local communities. It's a trade that supports other parts of the sheep industry. Today a meat processor in WA joined the Keep the Sheep campaign because their general manager in speaking to the issue said, 'If this policy comes into law, the size of the industry in Western Australia will shrink.' That won't just hurt the live export industry. That will hurt the processing industry. That will hurt the local communities. That will hurt the IGA. It will lose the town its doctor. It will lose the town its school.

Darren Spencer, head of the shearing association in WA, talked about the role he and his business play in a small country town in WA. He talked about the $100,000 he spends at the local IGA. He talked about the $50,000 he spends at the local petrol station. He talked about the people who have had jobs because of his shearing teams, people who wouldn't necessarily have had jobs otherwise. He talked about people who had made their lives in that small country town, who had bought houses and who attended the local school.

This is what the Labor Party is doing to Western Australian communities. They are sucking the heart and the lifeblood out of Western Australian communities. It's an absolute disgrace. If those members opposite from WA don't cross the floor on this, they have no guts. This is an issue of fundamental concern to Western Australia. It's an issue that will tear our local communities in the bush apart. Every single one of those Labor members in the House of Representatives will suffer the consequences at the ballot box for what they did to betray Western Australia. This Labor government does not care about Western Australia, and it certainly doesn't care about the bush.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We won't be supporting the establishment of this inquiry. Why? Because it's time to give Western Australian communities and farmers certainty in this debate.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! This is not the behaviour that we'll be having this afternoon. Everyone just calm down, please.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The policy is about better animal welfare standards. It is also about more local jobs and more economic value being added to my home state of Western Australia. It is about supporting farmers in this transition. Farmers need that certainty, and you are just leading farmers down the garden path for your own political gain.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why don't you want them to have an inquiry?

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator McKenzie!

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why don't you want to have a debate?

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Brown! That is enough. We will continue this debate in an orderly fashion.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Getting on with passing this legislation instead of diverting it to an inquiry paves the way for more jobs in value adding through onshore processing. It is absolutely critical that we get on with planning and working with communities on the $107 million transition support package. We need to get it rolled out to scale up meat processing and create new jobs in the communities, right around my home state of WA, that grow our nation's sheep, exporting meat and feeding the people of our nation. The time for delay is over. It is time to get on with delivering on this commitment.

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please resume your seat, Senator Pratt. Okay. It's late in the afternoon. Let's take it down and have an orderly and respectful debate, please.

Thank you for that interjection, Senator Smith. I'm not sure how helpful it really was, but thank you anyway. Senator Pratt.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for delay is over. It is time to get on with delivering this important commitment, one that I note is backed by the majority of Australians. The Albanese government went to the last two elections with a promise to phase out the live export of sheep by sea. We have consulted and worked with communities right around the country on how to best deliver a considered and orderly transition. We've been very clear with Australian farmers, meat processors and communities about our intention to fulfil this commitment.

Last year, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry appointed an independent panel to consult with stakeholders to seek advice on how and when the government should phase out the export of live sheep by sea. I've had many meetings with stakeholders over many years now, and you have been misleading people, time and time again, about how and when we need to get this done. Panel members were selected on their diverse sets of skills and experience, in agriculture, public admin, economics and animal welfare. From March to October the panel met with 2,000 people, received more than 4,100 submissions and survey responses and held 80 virtual and face-to-face meetings with industry and stakeholders. The panel recommended that the trade end on 1 May in 2028, that the date be legislated so that farmers and communities can plan with certainty, and that transition support be made available by government. We've considered the transition plan and its recommendations: four years for farmers and communities to prepare, backed up by a really big investment of taxpayers' money to work with communities to get this done. In addition to the panel's work, we know that the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture held two public hearings this month and had 13,000 contributions from individuals, organisations and stakeholders.

I know the reason you want to go to an inquiry on this: it's because you're going to vote against it. We already know that. You are not intent on working with the government to implement this policy; you only want to run interference for your own political gain. The lower house inquiry has received 6,700 form letters and campaign emails in support of this bill. There were some 1,100 that weren't in favour. I might add that, over the years, I've received more than 12,000 emails, not from interstate but from Western Australians, in support of ending— (Time expired)

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What can I say? I remember very clearly the campaign that was held in Western Australia in the lead-up to the last election. There were billboards and there were slogans plastered all over polling booths across electorates right across Western Australia saying that Labor would put WA first, and we've just heard from Senator Pratt, a Western Australia senator, who is selling out the farmers of Western Australia. These are generational farms. They are farms that have been held by generations of families who are providing futures for their children.

I want to commend Senator Brockman for the powerful speech that he just delivered. He knows better than anyone here in this place the impact on WA farmers because he's from a WA farming family. Actually, I was down at his family property recently, where they used to have sheep. They can't have sheep now, because of the impact this is already having, without the decision and the regime having even been put in place. This is already having an impact on farmers.

I was at the Wagin Woolarama and I saw people signing the petition. There were thousands of them walking up, and there was despair on the faces of families because of this change that is coming in. As I said, there were generations coming up and signing the petition. Young people and older family members were signing this petition not just for their own sake but for the sake of their families and future generations. It is an absolute travesty to hear what I'm going to say is this diatribe of a response—peddled by a WA senator, no less—that this government is providing in this situation.

I've been to the feedlot where they prepare the animals before they go onto the ships. I've seen the incredible welfare standards that have been put in place and the great measures that have been taken to support this industry. I've been onto the ships to see how they're treated. I've seen the ventilation that has been installed and the welfare of these animals when they're on board. I've seen the measures that this industry has taken to ensure its sustainability. They've done everything that the government has asked them to do—and more—and this decision being made just because of some votes over here in the eastern states is an absolute travesty.

Why don't you front up, Prime Minister, and go and speak to some people in Western Australia, instead of just refuelling your jet before you go overseas? You say you're visiting Western Australia by just parking and filling up the plane and flying on to your international visit. Why don't you go and speak to some farmers? Why don't you go and engage with some people on the ground?

You put WA first? My foot! You are not putting WA first. You have made an absolute mockery of your own campaign. Tim Picton, your state director, said that one of the hallmarks of your campaign was that you had a WA office running the campaign over there. What a joke! We've seen that all you're about is these eastern states seats. You're trying to win seats in the inner cities, like in the by-election in Dunkley, just for some preference deals with animal activist parties. Labor, you've turned your back on Western Australia, and you're going to pay for it, like Senator Brockman said, at the next election in all of those key seats: Tangney, Swan, Pearce, Hasluck. Wait till you see it happen in Bullwinkel too, when we win that seat, because Western Australians are furious with you.

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for that debate has expired.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that my name be added to Senator McKenzie's motion.

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion as moved by Senator McKenzie be agreed to.