WA farming industry delegation bound for Canberra as Albanese Government pushes ahead with live export ban

Representatives from seven farming industry groups have flown to Canberra this week to personally lobby parliamentarians including Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt to fight Labor’s planned live sheep export ban. The delegation included eight senior members from WAFarmers, the Pastoralists and Graziers Association, Sheep Producers Australia, WoolProducers Australia, ASHEEP, the WA Shearing Industry Association, and the WA Livestock and Rural Transport Association. Speaking before a meeting with independent Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie on September 5, WAFarmers president John Hassell said: “We’re going to provide them with sound reason and robust debate, unlike the highly emotional rubbish that Animals Australia and the RSPCA are dishing up.” “They keep saying it’s a cruel trade. It might be dirty, it might be dusty, it might be hot, but it ain’t cruel,” he said. Mr Hassell said he did not expect to “change people’s minds on the first meeting” and it would take a sustained campaign to drum up sufficient opposition to the Albanese Government’s policy. When Countryman went to print on Tuesday, the delegation was busy discussing strategy with the National Farmers Federation ahead of a September 6 meeting with Senator Watt. “It’s going to be very challenging to get Murray Watt to change his mind,” Mr Hassell said. PGA president Tony Seabrook said there was still hope for the industry if Labor refused to scrap the phase-out. “If we can prevail upon the Labour Party to extend the shutdown over five years or more, then it’s face saving for them and it also means that with a possible change of government, it’s off the agenda,” he said. The group was unable to lock in a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese but was expected to meet with his senior agriculture policy advisor, Skye Laris, who has previous ties to Animals Australia and the RSPCA. Ms Laris previously campaigned to end live exports and in 2016 condemned mainstream animal farming as “inherently cruel”. Talks were also scheduled with NSW Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill, independent MP Kate Chaney, Labor MP Luke Gosling, Nationals Leader David Littleproud, and Liberal MP Sussan Ley during the three-day visit. Ms Ley controversially introduced a failed private member’s Bill to phase out live sheep exports in 2018, before claiming in April this year she was now “on side” with the industry. WASIA president Darren Spencer, who runs a shearing business at Lake King in the eastern Wheatbelt, said the group’s key message was that the phase-out policy would destroy regional communities. “We want to make sure politicians from across Australia understand that when they talk about phasing out live sheep exports, they risk phasing out whole towns,” he said. “The live sheep export industry is concentrated in WA and employs farmers, shearers, truck drivers and livestock agents. It supports families, small schools, entire communities and the towns they live in.” Fellow delegation member and WALRTA vice president Ben Sutherland, who runs Ravensthorpe-based transport business 5k Livestock and Bulk, said the ban would be “felt across the community”. “We help with activities like hauling equipment for local schools and their sports activities, and we give a strong hand with donations and the like for the local footy club,” he said. “We won’t be able to keep doing things like that if this phase-out is supported.” Despite being one of the busiest times of the year for his business, which employs five people, Mr Sutherland said it was important to “look politicians in the eye” and explain what was at stake. Also among the delegation were WAFarmers livestock section president Geoff Pearson, PGA livestock committee vice chair and SPA board director Bindi Murray, WPA board member Steve McGuire, SPA representative Steven Bolt, and ASHEEP executive officer Sarah Brown. WPA chief executive Jo Hall said the shearing industry would be devastated if the ban went ahead. “WA is Australia’s third largest wool-producing State… so any sort of reduction in wool production in the West is going to have a detrimental impact on the total volume of wool that Australia produces,” she said. “Given it’s about a $3 billion market in WA, we really rely on and value the WA wool clip.” SPA chief executive Bonnie Skinner said the WA sheep flock played an important role in sustaining the national flock, ensuring vital breeding stock was maintained to support periods of rebuilding on both the east and west coast after drought. “For WA sheep producers to sustain their systems in the face of isolation, strong farmgate competition for sheep, driven by access to markets including live sheep exports, must be maintained,” she said. “Grazier competition in WA is limited, with producers relying on the competitive tension provided by live export to ensure stronger competition, fairer farmgate pricing, and sustainable businesses. “The Government’s policy to phase out live sheep export by sea will remove a critical demand for WA sheep, thereby reducing farmgate competition and threatening the very livelihoods of the families, businesses, and communities reliant on the WA sheep supply chain.” The WA sheep flock numbers about 12.4 million head and the State is home to more than 4000 sheep producers. WA’s wool industry had a gross value of $655 million in 2021-22 — 49 per cent of the total contribution of the sheep industry — while the live sheep trade employs about 3000 West Australians, primarily in the regions.