Live export: Fears for Australia’s cattle industry as Animal Justice Party sets sights on live trade

With farmers still reeling from Labor’s announcement of a timeline to end live sheep exports, the Animal Justice Party has wasted no time declaring the cattle trade is next on the cutting block. Federal Labor announced on the weekend that May 2028 would be the legislated end date of Australia’s live sheep trade, along with a $107 million transition package to support the industry during the phase-out process. The Animal Justice Party said it was “proud” to “deliver the knockout blow” to the predominantly WA-based industry. “While we wish the phase-out will happen more quickly, our contributions to securing financial support and certainty around transition dates mean there is no turning back,” its statement said. “Everyone should be proud of their work leading to today’s remarkable win for the AJP. However, we know the job is not yet complete.” The AJP listed three major priorities the group were now “laser-focused” on, including ensuring that Labor enshrines the live sheep export end date before the Federal election and making sure Coalition parties also commit to the end of live exports. Most alarmingly for the cattle industry, the AJP said it would gear efforts towards ending live cattle export. Raelene Hall, a retired Murchison pastoralist, said the AJP’s comments on the live cattle trade left her feeling “gutted”. Mrs Hall hails from Neds Creek, a cattle station north of Meekatharra, where she lived with her husband, Clyde. Her two sons, third-generation pastoralists, manage the station, but Mrs Hall said the idea of a live cattle export phase-out made her feel “very nervous” about the future of the property and her sons. “Without (the live cattle trade), I can sort of see us going the same way as a lot of sheep (producers). There just won’t be enough market or enough abattoirs to process the cattle that will be coming in,” she said. Mrs Hall mentioned Brookton farmer Ellen Walker, who spoke to the West about her fears that her children would not be able to pursue a future in farming because it would be financially unviable. Mrs Hall said stories like those resonated with her and made her question how the younger generation would make a living on the land as primary producers. She also questioned the motivation for ending live exports and said ending the trade would not help animal welfare. “Anybody in the industry or with any knowledge of the industry knows that the (overseas) clients we supply at the moment aren’t going to stop getting live sheep. “(Overseas clients) are just going to get them somewhere else that will have abysmal animal welfare standards compared to ours because we have the highest welfare standards, as far as live export shipping goes, in the world. “It doesn’t come down to animal welfare, and it doesn’t come down to human welfare. It doesn’t come down to the security of our food for our country or other countries. “At the end of the day, it all comes down to votes.” Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association president Bron Christensen said northern pastoralists were very angry and disappointed. “It’s exceptionally disappointing,” she said. “As an industry of agriculture, live export, whether sheep or cattle, has done so much work and come so far in the last 10 years with animal welfare.” Ms Christensen said while the AJP’s announcement was upsetting, it was not unexpected. “It’s logical that cattle would be next on the hit list,” she said. In its statement, the AJP referenced “ongoing conversations behind the scenes” between itself and the Labor Party which had “helped fine-tune” Government policy. Shadow agriculture minister Colin Stephen de Grussa said the comments only further proved that the live-export phase-out campaign was more about politics than animal welfare. “(It is) absolutely extraordinary,” he said. “If what they’re saying is true . . . that (AJP) has somehow done backroom deals with the Labor Party, that just proves that the shutdown of live sheep exports is purely political and has absolutely nothing to do with animal welfare for a start.” Mr de Grussa said while this did not spell the end of the cattle industry, groups such as AJP would not stop until all live exports were banned. “This attack on agriculture is not going to stop . . . (this) is just the beginning of the end if we allow ourselves to go down this path where our own food security is threatened,” he said. “We’re a massive agriculture nation, and here we are, attacking the very industry that feeds us.” Liberal Agricultural Region, MLC Steve Martin echoed Mr de Grussa’s comments. “Make no mistake, the activists are coming for live cattle,” he said. “And what will be next on their anti-agriculture agenda — glyphosate, diesel tractors, long-distance road transport of livestock? They will not stop until we are all eating fake meat produced in suburban laboratories powered by composted human waste.” Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt on Monday moved to reassure the cattle industry it would not be next. “We’ve been very clear that we will not be ending the live cattle trade,” he told 6PR radio. “It’s obviously a really critical pillar of the economic base of northern Australia, including in WA. “But really, even from animal welfare grounds, the reality is that cattle are a hardier species than sheep. They travel much shorter journeys than sheep journeys. “So we think that the trades are fundamentally different from an animal welfare perspective, but also from an economic perspective as well.”