Live sheep exporters will refuse to work with Agriculture Minister Murray Watt to end industry

Australian Livestock Exporters Council says it will refuse to work with the federal government to end live sheep exports and hasn’t ruled out mounting a legal challenge.

The live export industry will refuse to participate in the federal government’s plans to transition towards shutting down the live sheep trade.

And the sector is considering mounting a legal challenge to the ban.

Australian Livestock Exporters’​ Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton told The Weekly Times on Monday that after producers and exporters were treated with “complete and utter disregard there was no way we will participate in the transition”.

“We are resolute in fighting this, still,” Mr Harvey-Sutton said.

“The government has tritely asked industry to work on a transition process, but that just isn’t sensible, there is no alternative (market) for the WA industry and the transition money is nowhere near enough.

“I think everyone – exporters and producers – we will tell them to get stuffed.”

This comes after Agriculture Minister Murray Watt on Saturday unveiled a plan to end live sheep exports by sea by May 1, 2028 due to animal-welfare concerns and a $107 million transition package.

But Mr Harvey-Sutton said after farmers and exporters was told their industry would come to an end at the same time as activists, the industry was now “not ruling anything out”, including a legal challenge to the decision.

“A legal challenge will be on the table, it will be contemplated,” he said.

Northern cattle producers took the federal government to the Federal Court over the 2011 ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia. The court ruled in their favour and producers say the fallout has cost them more than $1 billion. In January this year the government rejected a $510 million offer to settle the case.

This week Mr Harvey-Sutton said the federal government had underestimated the community sentiment in favour of farmers and a well-regulated live sheep export industry.

He added that live cattle exporters were “with us every step of the way on this”.

He also raised concerns about the future of Australia’s live cattle trade, given the way the government handled the live sheep ban.

“The federal government has said consistently that it won’t (ban the live cattle trade), but if you use the same basis it has sought to shut down the sheep industry, which is basically all just on politics, then what industry is safe and how can we take them on their word,” Mr Harvey-Sutton said.

“The way they have made this decision is disgraceful, it is the worst time for producers in WA who are already impacted by seasonal and market conditions,” he said.

Mr Harvey-Sutton said in the 2023-24 financial year 458,194 live sheep were exported and so far this calendar year, 225,932 had been shipped.

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry data shows, as reported to parliament, that in 2023 of all live sheep shipments out of Australia, there were 0.17 per cent mortalities across all sea voyages.

In 2022, there were 0.14 per cent mortalities across all live sheep exports.

In the live cattle export sector, the mandatory DAFF data shows there were 0.05 per cent mortalities across all live export cattle sea voyages in the past two calendar years.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said “every survey ever done about this of the Australian population shows that the Australian public overwhelmingly support ending this trade”. “People think this trade needs to go, that there have been too many incidents around animal welfare, it needs to go, and that we need to move towards value‑adding,” Senator Watt said.