3 July 2024

Deadline set for Australia's live sheep exports

| Chris Johnson
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sheep on a ship

Images similar to these, of sheep stuck for weeks on ships like the MV Bahijah, have helped turn the tide against live animal exports. Photo: Stop Live Exports.

Australia’s live sheep trade is coming to an end, with shipments set to stop in less than four years’ time.

The Senate passed the Federal Government’s legislation this week that will ban the live sheep trade by sea in May 2028.

The controversial legislation has been fought at every step of its journey through the Federal Parliament, with opponents still vowing to contest Labor-held seats in order to get the laws overturned.

But it was a Labor election promise that animal welfare activists have welcomed.

The decision has the greatest impact on Western Australia, which is the only state still to ship live sheep.

The government is providing a $107 million transition package to WA farmers, although WA Premier Roger Cook says that’s not enough, and Canberra will have to cough up about $123 million.

“It will have a detrimental effect [on] WA farmers, so that’s why we want them to do that little bit more just to make sure we make this transition as smooth as possible,” he told ABC Radio.

“What we’ve been doing is working with the Federal Government to say, ‘you have to do more, we need more assistance for WA farmers to assist them in terms of this transition’.

“Our modelling shows it’ll have about a $123 million impact on the industry and the loss of about 400 jobs.”

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Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, however, told parliament the $107 million transition package was a good level of support.

“This policy is about keeping jobs in Western Australia rather than sending those jobs offshore,” Mr Watt said.

“In doing so, we will be putting forward a strong future for the Western Australian sheep industry.”

In a subsequent media interview, Senator Watt said Labor had taken the live sheep phase-out policy to two consecutive federal elections, winning the second time.

“I do think it’s important that we follow through on those commitments that we’ve made to the Australian people,” he said.

“But we’ve also acknowledged that this is a pretty significant shift for Western Australian sheep farmers and the sheep industry.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud accused Labor of destroying 3000 jobs while “bowing down” to animal activists.

“Today is a devastating day for the farming industry in Western Australia and around the entire country,” Mr Littleproud said.

“Farmers now know Labor is willing to sell them out and shut down a successful, world-class trade based on ideology.”

He had tried to delay the final vote on the legislation in order to allow Senate committee scrutiny.

He failed in that bid, but in the House of Representatives Question Time on Tuesday (2 July), the Nationals Leader asked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to name one country that has higher standards than Australia for live exports.

The PM said the transition package was a healthy figure compared to the value of the live export industry, which he said was around $80 million.

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He said the model for the live sheep export industry was built on animal suffering.

“The fact is that the live sheep industry has been in decline compared with the sheep meat industry, which is valued at about $4 billion,” Mr Albanese said.

“If you had a dog in a car all day in hot conditions, the owners will be charged with animal cruelty. Yet it is okay for 1000 sheep to go into international waters, suffer heat stress, suffer lack of ventilation, suffer lack of water and die in cruel, inhumane conditions.

“To me, that is not acceptable.”

The Keep the Sheep delegation met with the Prime Minister earlier in the week but said they left feeling disheartened at the government’s commitment to the ban.

Spokesman Ben Sutherland said regional communities would feel the brunt of the legislation’s impact.

“It affects my IGA, it affects my pub, it affects my sporting groups, it affects everything that goes on in my rural community,” he said.

“They need to come and see that, to see what damage they’re doing to us.”

The group now plans to campaign against Labor MPs in marginal federal seats – not just in WA.

Original Article published by Chris Johnson on PS News.

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Katrina Love3:37 pm 04 Jul 24

A historic and honourable day in Australia’s history. Thank you to the 33 Senators who listened to the science, the facts, and the majority rather than the squeaky wheel of emotion – “wahhhh – we’ll lose money”, industry spin and “tradition”… “we’ve always done it”. I’m sure the whalers were saying the same thing as they were relegated to the dustbin of our shameful history.

Economic gain does not and should never justify any kind of animal suffering.

We are talking about 600 thousand sheep in a state with a flock of 12 million, in a country with a flock of 76 million. All those other sheep will still need shearing and trucking and veterinary care (hard to keep a straight face with that one given the number of cruelty charges against sheep producers for neglect) and feed grown for them.

Maybe keep in mind that the UK essentially shut down the entire live animal export trade worth AU$970 million overnight – no transition period and no compensation for producers. NZ shut down all live animal exports by sea, worth AU$333 million within two and with no compensation. Aussie producers are receiving $107 million (possibly more) and four years to transition. They need to get a grip and adapt like every other Australian who has ever been retrenched, made redundant, lost their industry – their ENTIRE job, not just a tiny component of it, has had to do.

The number of live exports won’t be reduced. That will just be from another country, further away, with lower standards. How’s that helpful?

Well, you see, activism is all about sweeping things under the rug, Wa wa. You get to pretend you solved animal cruelty by actually exacerbating it, because you made it somebody elses problem by outsourcing it.

Finally a cruel practice comes to an end. No need for thousands to die in extreme conditions en-route to then be thrown in the back of a car and slaughtered fully conscious.

The decision to ban export of livestock by the ALP is a terrible example of old privileged white male elites being stuck in a rigid colonial mindset. They appear rampantly ignorant, even defiant, that they are going to stomp all over the cultural values, historical customs and sacred religious practices of a foreign people. Labor don’t seem to get it.
Furthermore, they cannot really care about animals. Australia has world’s best practice export veterinary processes. As soon as we are forced to step aside and stop selling our superior product, then so very quickly will another two or three countries step in to fill the market gap. They will have lower quality livestock and zero veterinary practices.

Katrina Love3:34 pm 04 Jul 24

Around 100 other countries already export live sheep – some many, MANY more than we do. They don’t NOT export because we do.

We don’t have any control over their welfare standards; never have had and never will have. The on-board conditions won’t get any worse if we leave the trade and they won’t get any better if we stay.

Probably important to remember that most voyages from any of those countries to the seven Middle Eastern countries we currently supply are overwhelmingly shorter – the best example is 14 hours versus 15.6 days (Sudan to Jeddah v Fremantle to Jeddah @ 15 knots).
Those animals are also going, in most cases, from no welfare laws and no stunning to no welfare laws and no stunning, i.e. like to like.

Sending hundreds of thousands of sheep from Australia, where they would have at least been stunned and spared three weeks at sea, to countries where they will have their throats cut whilst fully conscious is a net animal welfare loss.

Oh, look, Labor and the greens destroying another industry.

Imagine being one of the ‘working Australians’ that was gooled into thinking Labor cared about you. LOL

Imagine being goaded into believing that live animal exports are at all necessary. Oh wait…..

Yeah we can just selll frozen meat to countries where refrigeration is not common place. Truly a genius idea!

Katrina Love4:58 pm 04 Jul 24

Household refrigeration ownership in the oil-rich Gulf countries we export to is over 99% (well, it was, according to a Dubai survey carried out in 2012, and ownership would have only grown since then).

All Middle Eastern countries we export live animals to (except Israel) import chilled meat from animals stunned and halal slaughtered here in Australia. The chilled meat trade from Australia to the Middle East *alone* is worth eight times the value of the entire live sheep trade (chilled to the Middle East = AU$632 million versus live sheep exports to everywhere = AU$77 million).

Completely untrue. Pretending every other place is like Dubai is just absurd. They aren’t buying live sheep because they have other options.

Katrina Love9:31 am 05 Jul 24

I’m not pretending anything, mate – unlike industry, I only deal in facts. The survey was done BY a research company based in Dubai, not ON refrigeration in Dubai.

These are the seven Middle Eastern countries we export live sheep to:
Israel

Jordan

Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
UAE

Of those, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi, and UAE are OPEC countries and I’m sure you’re not going to pretend that Israel, Jordan or Oman are poor “third-world” countries.

The Middle Eastern countries we export chilled meat to the tune of $632 million and growing, are:
Bahrain
Iran
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
UAE

You’ll note that, as I said, we export chilled meat to all countries we export live sheep to, except Israel. You can look up chilled meat exports yourself, but as I think that may be challenging for you, here: https://www.mla.com.au/contentassets/9abf21c277c94a38987570e19275a0ab/australian-sheepmeat-exports—mena-summary-1.pdf

And again, just because we do export chilled or frozen meat to those countries does not mean it is suitable in all cases.

While it is typical for activists to believe entire countries are exactly like their major cities throughout, if you actually went outside you might come to the realisation that it is just not the case. Just because electricity and refrigeration is common in say, Jeddah, does not mean it is common in rural hamlets and villages. The people in those also have to eat, and the only way their meat keeps is if it is alive.

But hey, ignoring reality is all part of activism.

Katrina Love12:21 pm 05 Jul 24

As I said, household refrigeration ownership = >99%.

Except you made that up.

Katrina Love3:53 pm 05 Jul 24

As I said (pay attention) I stick to the facts. It’s industry that ignores reality and facts and makes things up.

A review undertaken in 2011 and released in 2012 by Market Vision Research & Consulting Services, a company based in Dubai, noted that in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain there was near universal household ownership of refrigerators, at 99.5%. Freezers also have a high penetration (73%), among households.

No, they didn’t.

Katrina Love10:12 am 07 Jul 24

Wow. You really are the epitome of live export supporters: deny facts, deny data, deny science, deny experts, deny truth… believe anything anyone with a vested interest in the trade continuing has to say.

You have no facts or data. What you have is “Trust me bro!”. The RSPCA can’t even find fault with the conditions the sheep are now being transported in. That’s a fact.

No, mate it really isn’t but I think we can assume that you do know that and are trolling. Anyway link to the information (for the benefit of anyone else who wants to become informed is easy to find.
https://www.rspca.org.au/key-issues/live-sheep-export/

@Ken M
“The RSPCA can’t even find fault with the conditions the sheep are now being transported in. That’s a fact.”
Did you seriously think you would get away with a bold faced lie?
https://www.rspca.org.au/latest-news/media-centre/historic-moment-as-bill-to-end-live-sheep-export-introduced-by-the-albanese-government/

Not sure he is trolling here astro2, rather than expressing dedicated belief over any other option. A connection can be drawn between a couple of topics on which Ken M. is posting.

Not with your appatent obsession with me and my living rent free in your head, JS.

The RSPCA and their feigned outrage is quite amusing, considering the thresholds they set for mortlity, heat stress etc on sea voyages are all now being greatly exceeded, but they still want to have a whine. It has nothing to do with animal welfare. They set targets they hoped would be unachievable, the exporters hugely exceeded these targets. It’s about ideology and activism.

@Ken M
LOL – not an obsession at all. It’s just that you and the truth are so rarely acquainted many of us find it necessary to set you straight.

That’s rich even for you, Ken M. You raise the RSPCA, in this thread, supposedly (according to your “facts”) as an authority which “… can’t even find fault with the conditions the sheep are now being transported in”. Then, when I, and others, show that you are clearly fabricating your “facts”, you proceed to lambast the very organisation which you used as a reference.

That’s not shooting yourself in the foot – that is nuking your whole leg!

Rent free.

And the industry exceeding the various animal welfare thresholds set by the RSPCA by a huge margin, then the RSPCA still having a whinge is them being dishonest, not me or the industry. Their issue at this point is ideological, which is worth ignoring. When they set a 1% mortality rate being unacceptable, and the industry reduces the rate to 0.11%,

Hit the post button too early…

When the RSPCA set a mortality rate of 1% being unacceptable, and the industry reduces the mortality rate to ~0.11%, then the RSPCA still have a whinge, they can’t find a real issue and are making things up.

Ken M, if you can untangle your posting, please cite where the RSPCA sets a threshhold of 1%?

They do not. The government does, through ASEL. Therefore hypocrisy does not lie with the RSPCA but on those who pretend the RSPCA’s view.

Please state in what years the sheep mortality rate for shipboard live export has fallen to 0.11%, and provide a reference?

It has not. The median outcome in 2018 through 2023 was 0.23% with a best outcome of 0.14% in 2022.

Death is an extreme indicator of stress. The standard is more lax for sheep than for cattle (sheep are less valuable).

Air freight has a median mortality rate for sheep of 0.01% over the last five years.

This is not an important issue for me; you just happen to be wrong again.

What an inane attempt to be cute by quoting a single month, Ken M. It is obvious to conscious people that the mortality rate varies throughout the year, by season. Therefore I use annual figures reported to parliament by DAFF: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/export/controlled-goods/live-animals/live-animal-export-statistics/reports-to-parliament

Perhaps you believe all sheep should be exported each May only?

Thank you for your inferential admission that it is not an RSPCA standard. ASEL consults a bunch of people and sets a standard. RSPCA opposed live exports. Your prior claims are false.

They also die at a much greater rate just standing around in a paddock.

“Annual ewe mortality from all causes has been reported to range from 2 to 10% for Australian farms (Trompf et al., 2011; McGrath et al., 2013; Ferguson et al., 2014; Doyle, 2018)”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167587721002221

LOL
No more “false” than your claim of a best result of 0.14%.

And pretending the RSPCA isn’t the main contributor to setting the ASEL standards is also diahonest.

I do not care what their death rate is, whether standing around or going water-skiing. I am solely pointing out that you made two false claims, which you have tried to defend with hyper-selective reading and by false imputation, no evidence supplied.

If there were no road deaths in Canberra yesterday does that mean none all year? If few people get flu in Summer is that a measure of Winter and of the annual rate? Seasonal factors affect outcomes in live animals. Enquiring people know it. Closed minds do not.

Ken M has also produced zero evidence for RSPCA advocating 1% as the current (or most recent) standard. He simply made a claim, hoping someone will believe him, if only himself.

LOL
Ahhh, I see, you were again unable to stop yourself from involving yourself in a discussion with me, continuing to prove that nothing you say can be trusted. 🤣

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