Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) | Hansard source

It's now my honour to close out the debate on the Export Control Amendment (Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea) Bill 2024, prior to us moving to a series of votes on something that has been discussed in this country for a very long time.

Let's be very clear regarding what this debate is about. It's about implementing an election commitment that Labor took to the last two elections—nothing more, nothing less. We're in this curious situation where members of the opposition are calling for this government to abandon an election commitment, something we've never seen an opposition do before. We fully intend to deliver this commitment by passing this legislation tonight. We went to the last two federal elections committing to phase out live sheep exports by sea. Today, by passing this legislation—as I hope we soon will do—we will be delivering on our election commitment to the Australian people by bringing the export of live sheep by sea to an end on 1 May 2028.

In doing this, we won't just be delivering an election commitment; we will be delivering a substantial reform for animal welfare in Australia that many thousands of people have sought for a long, long time and that is widely supported across the Australian community. But what we'll also be doing is assisting the sheep industry in Western Australia, which is the only state that continues to export live sheep by sea. We'll be supporting that industry to transition towards a stronger future based on more value adding, more onshore processing and more jobs for Western Australians. This policy is about keeping jobs in Western Australia rather than sending those jobs offshore. In doing so, we will be putting forward a strong future for the Western Australian sheep industry.

I recognise that, as with pretty much everything we debate in this chamber, this is not a policy that is supported by 100 per cent of Australians or 100 per cent of Western Australians. At all times while carrying this reform through the government and through the parliament, I have sought to be respectful of the fact that there are different views on this. Today I met again with representatives of the sheep industry in Western Australia, many of whom are sheep farmers themselves or those involved in the supply chain like shearers and truckies. I think that brings it to about 14 meetings I've now had with representatives of the sheep industry in Western Australia, including sheep farmers themselves. At all times I have dealt with all parties in this debate respectfully, agreeing to meet with them and listen to them, and being really honest with them about what can be done and what can't be done. From the very first meeting that I've had with those groups, I've made very clear that we have every intention of delivering our election commitment but that we would listen to them and work with them on how we would implement that commitment. I've made that offer again today.

As I said, I recognise that this policy is not supported by every single member of the sheep industry or every single Australian, but I repeat the point that this is a commitment that was taken to not just one but two elections and was endorsed by the Australian people and the Western Australian people at the last federal election. It continues to have widespread support, with the latest surveys that I've seen demonstrating that even in Western Australia—the one state which continues to export live sheep by sea—our policy of phasing out this industry retains the support of about 70 per cent of Western Australians. So this does have widespread support in Western Australia, just as it does in Australia. I understand that those opposite—and we'll come to their record—don't support this and want to stop this from happening. This is a policy that Australians have voted for and that is still supported by about 70 per cent of Western Australians.

I want to put on record again my thanks to the members of the independent panel we appointed early last year to consider and provide advice to the government on how and when we should implement this election commitment. I invite anyone interested in this issue to have a look at their report and look at the government's response to that panel's report. By and large, we've accepted pretty much all of the recommendations that the panel made, including their recommendation that we should phase out this industry once and for all on 1 May 2028. In addition, this government recognises that this will be a significant adjustment for many people in the sheep industry in Western Australia. That's why we have put on the table a $107 million transition package funded by every taxpayer in Australia. Let's remember, we're talking about an industry that brought in $77 million last year. We're putting in $107 million of taxpayer funds, with every taxpayer in Australia contributing towards an industry that has been in decline for 20 years.

I'll come to what's happened in the past and the decline and the lack of assistance that's been provided to this industry in the past. Before doing so, I think a few facts need to be put on the record again about this industry, because, if you listen to the National Party and the Liberal Party, you would think that we are talking about the backbone of Western Australia's agricultural sector. As important as this sector is to those involved in it, we are talking about a tiny fraction of the Western Australian agriculture industry as a whole. In 2022-23, live sheep exports by sea represented less than one per cent of the total value of Australia's sheep exports. In 2022-23, live sheep exports by sea from Australia were worth $77 million, while sheepmeat exports reached $4.5 billion in 2021-22.

We hear a lot from the National Party and the Liberal Party about how much they care about this industry and how it needs to stay in place and how they're the biggest supporters of the industry. What the National Party and the Liberal Party don't want to admit is that this industry plummeted in size and in importance to the Western Australian agricultural sector when they were in government. I mentioned in question time today that in 2014-15, Australia exported 2.1 million sheep by sea at a value of $224 million.