WAFarmers, Pastoralists and Graziers of WA present a united front for Federal Ag Minister’s first visit west

WA farm advocacy groups say they “have the ear” of Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt after the Labor MP’s first visit to the west and plan to spend the next three years showcasing the live sheep trade. Queensland MP Mr Watt — who was appointed Federal Agriculture Minister on June 1 — made his first trip to WA this week, sending farm advocacy groups into overdrive as they put forward a united front to highlight key issues. His visit sparked interest from a wide range of industry bodies, with one of Federal Labor’s few agriculture policies revealed prior to the May 25 election in a plan to ban live sheep exports. Federal Labor has so far refused to put a specific timeline on the phase out — saying consultation with industry and farmers was needed — but has revealed it won’t be during this term. WAFarmers and the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA joined forces to host Mr Watt and his contingent of staff at the WAFarmers office in Bentley on Thursday afternoon, with WAFarmers president John Hassell and PGA president Tony Seabrook sitting side-by-side. Biosecurity, labour shortages, securing the future of the live sheep trade, and capital gains tax on family farms were key discussion points, with a large group of WA industry members in attendance. Also present at the meeting were WAFarmers livestock president Geoff Pearson, PGA vice president Digby Stretch, and well-known PGA member and sheep producer Peter Boyle, among others. Mr Watt’s flying visit to WA was jam-packed with meetings in Perth but also included a trip to Brookton farmer Murray Hall’s property, two hours from Perth. The trip marked his first time on a WA farm. Speaking after the meeting in Perth, Mr Seabrook and Mr Hassell agreed they felt they had Mr Watt’s ear and were impressed he had made the effort to travel to WA so soon after his June 1 appointment. Mr Seabrook said the lines of communication were open and there was “nothing more” industry could hope for right now. “We need open and free access to a minister, and he has promised that,” he said. “We can’t ask for more than a minister who is ready to talk to us. We covered all of our main topics nicely, and he was open to listening to a lot of things we put on the table.” Mr Seabrook said while Mr Watt’s message in regards to live export was expected, industry had a clear purpose. “The message was that they have a policy and he’s beholden to uphold the policy of the Labor Party, but he’s prepared to listen to whatever we say,” he said. “I told him, our challenge now is to convince you to go back and convince your people that this trade (the live sheep trade) does not need to be shut down. It’s as simple as that.” Mr Stretch echoed Mr Seabrook’s comments. “We will spend the next few years putting the science out in front of him on all this (the live sheep trade) and trying to dispel all of the ‘Facebook myths’ surrounding this industry,” he said. “We hope we can get a good decision.” On Friday, Mr Watt toured Livestock Shipping Services’ Peel Feedlot where he met representatives from LSS, Rural Export and Trading WA, Emanuel Exports and national peak body the Australian Live Exporters’ Council. RETWA general manager Murray Frangs said exporters appreciated the opportunity to showcase the industry to Mr Watt, but a phase out was “not necessary” and the ALP’s position “should be reviewed”. “(We) promoted the fact that we are in a very different place to what the industry was when the Labor Party live export policy was initially formulated many years ago,” he said. “Industry has worked closely with the Department of Agriculture for many years effecting change across the entire supply chain, from producers here in Australia as well as within the importing country supply chains to ensure that only the highest welfare standards are in place. “Furthermore, we ensure that our standards are accepted and practised by our import partners who have made hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investment in their respective supply chain assets and practices to ensure they operate in compliance with the Australian standards.” Mr Frangs said the broader investments in the Australian marketplace from Kuwait alone totaled more than $10b. “From the perspective of our RETWA supply chains, these investments have been made by our stakeholders from Kuwait and the Middle East with the security that they are operating within a legally compliant industry and with the registered approval from Australian Government, who has supported, promoted and encouraged the live export industry since its beginnings over 50 years ago,” he said.