Live export: ALEC lodges FOI request to obtain panel’s phase-out recommendations

Australia’s peak live export industry lobby group has made a last-ditch bid to obtain an advance copy of a new report containing recommendations on how and when to kill off WA’s live sheep trade. The independent report was handed down to the Albanese Government on October 25 after a four-person panel conducted four months of consultation with farmers and industry stakeholders. Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council CEO Mark Harvey-Sutton confirmed ALEC lodged a freedom of information request that same day, telling Countryman it was unlikely Labor would release the report any time soon. It comes after Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt told Senate Estimates the document would be made public but declined to reveal when, saying it had first to go through Cabinet. With the conclusion of Parliament fast approaching, that could be months away. “The idea we had is that when the panel hands the report to the Minister, I don’t think it can be considered to be in Cabinet confidence yet, so we’ve FOI’d the email from the panel to the Minister,” Mr Harvey-Sutton said. “In the interest of transparency, we think the report should be released in full given its gravity and the impact it will have.“ With the Albanese Government standing firm on its election commitment to phase-out live sheep exports by sea, Mr Harvey-Sutton said it was important the report was released without delay. But he did not have any firm idea of how long the FOI process might take. “They do have timeframes, but then they can keep kicking it down the road — there’s ways and means,” he said. “I think we’ve been specific enough, but we’re probably talking months, not weeks. “At the end of the day, the only outcome we’ll accept is a reversal (of the policy), so in one sense we don’t really care what the report says.” The Livestock Collective director and Corrigin sheep producer Steve Bolt was not holding his breath to see the report “any time this year”. He also questioned the narrow timeframe allocated for the panel to complete its wide-ranging investigation. “To fully explore the social impact and financial impact that this phase out is going to have, there’s no way that the panel has been given adequate time to reach an informed decision,” Mr Bolt said. “Live export is so interwoven in so many areas of the West Australian agriculture system.”