Government MP says end date to live exports must be fast-tracked

Labor backbencher Josh Wilson says the federal government must outline a timeframe for the end of the live export of sheep, as an expert panel prepares to hand down its findings on how quickly the trade could be halted.

“It is completely understandable that the Australian community is now calling for certainty when it comes to how and when this cruel and out-of-date industry will cease, and as a person who has campaigned with my community and worked consistently in this place to see the back of a marginal trade that involves acute and endemic animal welfare failure, I absolutely support that call,” Wilson said on Monday.

Footage from 2017 showing sheep dying in horrific conditions on a ship to the Middle East helped turn public opinion against live sheep trade.Credit: Animals Australia

The federal government has promised to ban the trade but not given a timeframe for the shutdown, saying only it will not happen in its first term.

Wilson will present an RSPCA petition that gathered nearly 44,000 signatures in four weeks to parliament on Monday.

Industry is fighting the ban and is calling on Labor to renege on its election pledge.

RSPCA Australia CEO Richard Mussell said there was clear public support for an end to the trade.

“[The survey] builds on the recent surveys showing that 78 per of Australians would support a phase-out if farmers were supported through the transition and, in May this year, a survey showing that 71 per cent of West Australians – where the majority of Australian sheep are exported from – support a phase out,” Mussell said.

“It’s yet another demonstration of how much the Australian community supports a phase-out of this cruel and unfixable trade.

“The next step is to legislate the end date in this parliamentary term to improve sheep welfare, provide certainty for the farmers, and deliver on community expectations.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said he remained committed to the phase-out of the live sheep exports by sea.

He is awaiting the report from the independent panel he commissioned earlier this year to examine how best to end the trade.

Of the published submissions to the panel overseeing the phase-out, 82 per cent were supportive, 16 per cent wanted the trade to remain and 2 per cent had no view.

“We will await the independent panel’s report before making any decisions about how best to deliver a considered and orderly transition,” Watt said.

The panel will report to the minister by September 30.

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