Albanese government yet to respond to sheep export request
WA’s Agriculture Minister has wants a delay in the summer moratorium on live sheep exports to help farmers battling record drought. The Albanese government is yet to respond.
Livestock exporters want the Albanese government to delay the moratorium on live sheep exports across the northern hemisphere summer to help farmers in Western Australia struggling through drought.
WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis has called for a 10-day delay in the annual summer moratorium of live sheep exports from Fremantle to the Middle East to help keep market avenues open for struggling farmers after Perth endured its driest seven months on record.
It comes as some farmers in the state said they were preparing to slaughter their sheep and bury them in pits because they did not have enough pasture and could not find a buyer to take them, even for free.
Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton said the struggling sheep market had been damaged by the Albanese government’s proposed ban on live sheep exports and that delaying the moratorium to some destinations until June 24 could temporarily ease the pressure on farmers.
The summer moratorium on live sheep exports came into effect in 2019 to prevent heat stress in livestock aboard export ships.
Mr Harvey-Sutton said it was disappointing that federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt had not responded to Ms Jarvis.
“This is a significant acknowledgment of the trade’s importance, yet it seems to be sitting in Minister Watt’s inbox with no public acknowledgment of the request,” Mr Harvey-Sutton said.
“The only government speaking up at the moment is the WA government as they understand the importance of live sheep exports to their farmers, who provide them with food every day of the week.
“For the commonwealth government to remain silent in the face of a disaster they have caused is shameful and contemptuous to WA’s crucial farmers. All Western Australians are rightly appalled by how their farmers’ livelihoods are being destroyed by Canberra.”
Senator Watt said responsibility for administering the rules on live sheep exports rested with the secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
“I will continue working with Minister Jarvis and the WA government to ensure farmers are supported through this dry spell,” Senator Watt said.
Mr Harvey-Sutton said the federal government’s proposed ban on live sheep exports had smashed confidence in the sheep industry in WA and disrupted prices. “The Albanese Government can inject much needed confidence into the market immediately by withdrawing their proposed ban,” he said.
“We know that there are times of drought and oversupply and farmers plan for that.
“Let me be very clear – this is not the fault of farmers. Instead, it is the bloody-mindedness of a government interfering in a legitimate market, all to pursue an activist-driven agenda.”
The federal government has yet to reveal its proposed start date to end the live sheep export trade but has said it will not happen during this term.
A report advising on how to implement Labor’s pre-election pledge to phase out the trade was handed to the government in October but has not been released.
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