Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

The decision by the Albanese government that live sheep exports will end on 1 May 2028 will be widely welcomed by many people who for years have campaigned to end live sheep exports. Some would have preferred the end date to be sooner. The reality, however, is that a phase-out period is needed so that contractual obligations can be met and affected sheep farmers and other industry sectors can make the necessary adjustments. That was the recommendation of the independent panel, led by Philip Glyde, that the Albanese government established to ensure a smooth transition out of live sheep exports.

The fact is that the live sheep export industry has been in decline for years. For 2022-23, the latest figures available, live exports represented just $77 million of the $8 billion Australian sheep industry, of which $4.5 billion was from the export of sheepmeat. Labor made it clear in both the 2019 and 2022 federal elections that, if elected, live sheep exports would end. The end date therefore comes after considerable advance notice—almost a decade—to exporters, sheep farmers and other industry participants. To assist the industry with a phase-out, an industry transition support package of $107 million over five years has been made available by the government.

Live sheep exports have been dogged by revelations of serious cruelty and sheep deaths for decades, with a Senate inquiry dating back four decades exposing the cruelty of this trade. Since then, there have been several inquiries and suspensions of the trade, including by the Howard government in 2004, when exports to Saudi Arabia were suspended over the Cormo Express debacle. In more recent years, both the Moss and McHugh inquiries shone an independent spotlight on the trade and imposed more stringent oversight. That oversight has improved the export conditions, and the Labor-introduced Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System, otherwise referred to as ESCAS, has considerably helped.

We saw only earlier this year with the MV Bahijah crisis, where thousands of sheep were left in limbo for weeks, that, even with the world's best regulatory system, the safety of the sheep could not be assured once the sheep left Australia. The justification that live sheep are exported because receiving countries do not have adequate refrigeration is no longer credible. That may have been the case decades ago, but not today. The more likely driver of live exports is that live exports enable the slaughter to take place in cheaper-to-run marketplaces, and, even more likely, the sheep are sold to individual families, to be killed under customary but cruel cultural practices, where there are no abattoir costs incurred at all. The end of live sheep exports will ensure that all sheep are killed here in Australia, under Australian standards, including by halal certified abattoirs, thereby adding to Australian industry opportunities and Australian jobs.

New Zealand phased out live sheep exports nearly two decades ago, and the UK and EU countries are considering doing the same. In my own state of South Australia I understand that the only live sheep exports over recent years have been by air transport, with sea transport from South Australia to the Middle East having been almost entirely phased out. Even in Western Australia, where most of the live sheep export trade originates, Western Australian boxed meat exports, which account for around $648 million, are now worth eight times the live sheep trade.

Over the years, I have attended live sheep export rallies, met with numerous animal welfare leaders and spoken with countless people who have been both for and against live sheep exports. The overwhelming sentiment has been that live sheep exports should end, that the live export industry is cruel and that there are real alternatives for sheep farmers. I thank those passionate animal welfare advocates who have been campaigning to end the live sheep export trade for years. Their voices have been heard by the Albanese Labor government, and I commend them for all of their advocacy. Of course, 1 May 2028 will come after the next election, and the end of the live sheep export trade legislation was not supported by the coalition. Only a Labor government has taken animal welfare standards seriously. It was Labor that introduced the ESCAS standards, and only a Labor government will phase out live sheep exports.

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