Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate West Australian grain growers on a record grain crop for the second year in a row: 26 million tonnes. This confirms beyond doubt that we are the most efficient dryland farmers in the world at converting millimetres of rain into kilograms of grain. So spirits were justifiably buoyant at last week's Wagin Woolorama, O'Connor's premium agricultural showcase. Kudos to the organising committee on hosting a terrific two-day event and, particularly, for their warm Woolorama welcome to opposition leader, Peter Dutton.

Mr Dutton and the WA Liberal team met with farmers, stock agents, veterinarians, livestock transporters and exporters. All were concerned about Labor's plan to ban the live sheep export trade. This ban will have a devastating effect on the market for merino sheep. Local meat processing facilities are already at capacity, reflected in record low prices in the saleyards. Labor should stop peddling the myth that sheep should die happy deaths here in Australia, instead of in state-of-the-art abattoirs overseas, where the workforce is plentiful, and our ESCAS system ensures animal welfare to the point of slaughter. As Mr Dutton said, this ban is intended to please voters in inner-city Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, describing the Albanese government's decisions as anti WA and anti farming.

A re-elected coalition government is committed to supporting the live sheep export trade, the regional families who depend on it and our international trading partners who need it for the food security of their nations.