Farmers angry at live sheep export ban amid claims cattle trade could be next
Australia will end live sheep exports within four years after the Senate passed laws to halt the trade, angering farmers who say it will ruin their livelihoods.
Last-minute lobbying by West Australian farmers and business owners was not enough to have the legislation blocked, with the bill passing the Senate late on Monday night.
The legislation will mean an end to live sheep exports by sea on May 1, 2028, with a $107 million transition package to flow to affected farmers.
āWe made a commitment at two elections to phase out the export of live sheep by sea, after years of community concern about the trade,ā Agriculture Minister Senator Murray Watt said in a statement.
āAround 70 per cent of West Australians support ending this industry and the parliament has now acted.ā
Keep the Sheep supporters travelled to Canberra on Monday to again plead their case, and they vowed to target marginal Labor seats if the legislation passed.
āWe will be targeting every marginal Labor seat across this country to try and get what we need,ā WA Farmers president John Hassell told a media conference in Canberra on Monday.
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Keep the Sheepās Ben Sutherland, who operates a truck company that transports sheep, said the Albanese government had ignored West Australians and regional communities.
āThey have repeatedly tried to bury this issue. We wonāt let it be pushed down the agenda,ā he said in a statement.
āWe tried to change the policy, but that hasnāt worked. If we canāt change the policy, we will change the government,ā he said.
The coalition has vowed to overturn the legislation if re-elected.
Labor had āonce again treated farmers with contemptā by ignoring pleas to save live sheep exports, Nationals leader David Littleproud said, insisting live cattle shipments could be next.
āFarmers now know Labor is willing to sell them out and shut down a successful, world-class trade based on ideology,ā he said.
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āThis decision is simply Labor bowing down to animal activists, even though Australia has the worldās best animal welfare standards.ā
WA Liberal senator Michaelia Cash said on Monday night a vote for the coalition was a vote for the stateās vibrant sheep industry.
āThere are some very basic questions that need to be answered by the prime minister in relation to turning his back on Western Australia ā¦ Why do you hate WA farmers so much?ā
But Senator Watt said the live sheep export trade had been shrinking for some time.
āLive sheep exports by sea from Australia have been plummeting over the last 20 years,ā Watt said.
The legislation also won the support of Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi who wanted the trade dropped because of animal welfare concerns.
āNothing can be done to make live export ships safe for animals, this cruel trade is irredeemable, and the only option is to shut it down,ā Senator Faruqi told the Senate on Monday night.
āNow it is beyond time, to shut down this industry, once and for all.ā
Angry farmers in June warned a parliamentary inquiry that travelled to regional WA some towns will die if the legislation passed.
Labor vowed to end the trade following animal rights concerns after thousands of sheep died of heat stress while en route to the Middle East.
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