Live export report says northern summer pause created thousands of local processing jobs, but Middle East still sources sheep from other countries.

An Animals Australia-commissioned report argues the northern hemisphere summer pause on live sheep shipping has not impacted WA farmers’ returns, yet created thousands more meat processing jobs in WA. The report, by Pegasus Economics, also concedes with reduced supply from Australia during the pause period, Middle East markets are sourcing replacement sheep from other countries including north Africa and eastern Europe. These countries do not practice the same high animal welfare standards as Australia. Liberal Member for O’Connor Rick Wilson said in Federal Parliament Australia was the only country — of the 100 nations that participated in the live export trade— with an export supply chain assurance scheme. “We set the standard, and our standard is very high. What Animals Australia concedes in its own report is that, when Australia is out of the market, importers just go to any of those other 100 countries that export animals, often with terrible results,” Mr Wilson said. Pegasus said farm gate prices had not crashed amid the northern hemisphere summer pause in 2018 and 2019, and the sheep displaced from the live sheep export trade have found new export markets, predominately as mutton into China. Pegasus pointed to a big increase in local processing jobs with the increase in slaughter of mutton sheep. The average level of total employment in the WA meat processing sector increased by 2,300 jobs, from an average of 3,400 jobs in 2017 and 2018, to 5,700 jobs in 2019, according to the report. A separate report by Mecardo, commissioned by Meat & Livestock Australia and released in January, estimates the two shipping standstills have stripped WA of up to $15 million in 2018 and up to $12 million in 2019. The Pegasus report also argues that stamping out the live export trade entirely would cost WA farmers $4 million a year in premiums, based on one million sheep exported annually, and a premium averaging $4 per head across all sheep suitable for export. This amounts to $936 per WA sheep farmer on average - equivalent to 0.2 per cent of total cash receipts for specialist sheep farms and less than 0.1 per cent for mixed enterprise sheep farms, Pegasus argued.