Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee

Bridget McKenzie

Prior to my contribution, I wish to add senators to this motion who've come to me since it's been lodged. In addition to National Party Senators Davey, Canavan, Nampijinpa Price, McDonald and Cadell, I'd like to add Senators Brockman, O'Sullivan, Reynolds, Cash and McGrath. I, and also on behalf of Senators Davey, McDonald, Nampijinpa Price, Canavan, Cadell, Brockman, O'Sullivan, Reynolds, Cash and McGrath, move:

That the provisions of the Export Control Amendment (Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea) Bill 2024 be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 25 November 2024.

Here we have another tick-and-flick, cheap-and-dirty attempt by the Labor Party to consult the communities they have continued to abuse for over two years after coming to power. The pathway to the Lodge for Anthony Albanese was paved through Western Australia. What has he done? East coast Labor has turned their back on the west. How have they done this? They have instigated the ban on live sheep trade forthwith.

In Senate estimates, the minister made it very clear: 'It is Senate inquiries that do the legislation inquiries, and I'm sure that will happen.' Well, Minister Watt, now it is time to stand up for the agriculture community. Now is the time to actually put your political muscle and mouth—which is always on show—to work. Give us the Senate inquiry that you promised industry and that industry, our exporters, our producers and our regional communities, particularly in Western Australia, have requested after the absolute sham process in the other place, which was an abomination and a shame on what should be good consultation.

This government, time and time again, has made decision after decision that undermines the legitimacy and the strength and the prosperity of our mighty agriculture industry. As Australia's first female agriculture minister and having had the great privilege of serving the industry and serving our country, I know firsthand what a world-class live sheep export industry we have out of the west. In terms of servicing culturally appropriate protein to the Middle East, you love to talk about cultural appropriation but not when talking about how the Middle East communities would like to receive their food and what sort of industry we have, which is absolutely world-class.

I had the great privilege to head over to Muresk, in the great state of WA, for the second of those Senate inquiries, to hear directly from primary producers, from advocacy bodies, from local champions, from those employing thousands of people in the West. And don't think this is a west coast problem. When this occurs, as is already happening, it's having a flow-on impact to the east coast industry as well. In Muresk, the Keep the Sheep campaign spokesperson, Benno, was very clear: 'The clear message we want to send today, come and look us in the eye and see the people you're hurting. Listen to our stories. Do you think you know better than us?' Thank you, Benno. It's the transport operator. It's the supply chain. It's not just the primary producers. Glenn Sterle comes in here and talks a big game backing truckies. Now is his opportunity to do that. He could actually chair the legislation inquiry that the minister has promised and that the Senate and these communities deserve.

The Keep the Sheep petition has over 44,000 signatures in a single week. It's up to 60,000 now. Log onto any of our Facebook pages if you want to show your support for this great, world-class industry. Brownie also said, 'Labor is actually wanting to take away our livelihoods and potentially our lives.' We heard from farmer Leanne Dring: 'This was a line-in-the-sand moment. I never thought that at the age of 60 I would have to fight for a social licence to feed the world.' Well, under Anthony Albanese and Murray Watt, that's exactly what you have to do. He'll come in and say, 'We had an election commitment, and we're going through with it.' At least have the decency to look these people in the eye and give them the opportunity to put their case. Over 13,000 submissions were received to the House of Representatives inquiry. They haven't even been able to be uploaded and publicly available. If that happened in one of the Greens' or the Labor Party's Senate inquiries, there would be an uproar that we were silencing the people. But, when it is an industry that underpins the regions and the seven million of us that live out there, this government doesn't care. This motion is about giving them a voice.

Jess Walsh

():  Ending live sheep exports is a commitment that has been well known for some years, and it has been well consulted. Labor went to both the 2019 and 2022 federal elections committing to phase out live sheep exports by sea. In government, we've overseen a significant consultation on how to implement that commitment and implement it in a way that delivers jobs and opportunities to regional Australia. The coalition, apparently, wants to stand in the way of these opportunities. They want to stand in the way of the certainty that industry needs to navigate the future, a future with a four-year phase-out, a future with $100 million of investment for new opportunities, a future that has long been signalled, has been extensively consulted and has been well known for some time.

The independent panel, which we established, consulted on how and when this phase-out could occur. Between March and October last year, it went out and sought views about how this would work. The independent panel hosted over 2,000 people at in-person forums and 330 attendees at virtual forums. They held 80 meetings with organisations and farmer representative groups. They received over 800 written submissions and over 3,000 survey responses. Through all of this consultation, they made their 28 recommendations to government, including the recommendation to end the export in four years' time. That was the recommendation that was made by the independent panel. This recommendation was strongly informed by the overwhelming decline of the live sheep export industry. In 2022-23, live sheep exports by sea represented less than one per cent of the total value of Australia's sheep exports—less than one per cent!

The government has put forward a bill to address this economic reality. The bill that is before the parliament has been consulted on and it's been examined by members of parliament. It's been examined by members of the coalition. They've had that opportunity. The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture conducted an inquiry into this bill. They've looked into it. They've held two public hearings on it. They've sought the views of everyone. They have received hundreds of submissions. They have received thousands of letters—notably, 7,000 letters in support of the bill. But those opposite just close their eyes, block their ears, and pretend that didn't happen. They pretend that an independent inquiry and another parliamentary inquiry never happened. They ignore all of the evidence before them and they just say, 'No, apparently we need another inquiry.'

Instead of watching the trade, businesses and communities just collapse slowly over time, as live sheep export by sea makes up less than one per cent of the industry today, the government has stepped in to maximise the opportunities that are actually here: to focus on and grow the processing of these animals locally, right here in Australia. We have allocated over $100 million to assist the entire supply chain, including farmers, processors, truckies and shearers. We have allocated $100 million to navigate that transition. This is something that you would think that those opposite would embrace: more jobs in the agriculture sector, more jobs in regional Australia, more support for local businesses, building a new meat processing industry in Australia—

Dean Smith

Where are the WA senators?

Karen Grogan

Senator Smith! Order!

Jess Walsh

But they can't pass up the opportunity to play politics with this. They want to pass up all of those opportunities and instead play politics on this issue, play politics with regional Australia and try to block the opportunities that we want to create.

Mehreen Faruqi

The Greens oppose this referral, and that should come as no surprise to anyone in this chamber. The Nationals just can't deal with the fact that this is it. This is it! This is the end of the cruel live export industry which lost its social licence decades ago, and for good reason. It is a barbaric trade that results in the suffering of animals as they are crammed into overcrowded, filthy containers and forced to endure long and gruelling journeys, subjected to extreme temperatures, thirst and hunger, and thousands upon thousands have actually died. There is no need for another inquiry. Everyone knows why this trade must end. The research has been done. Extensive and lengthy stakeholder engagement has been undertaken. The independent panel appointed to investigate a ban on live sheep export has received 800 submissions and over 3,000 survey responses. They met with over 2,000 people and held 96 stakeholder meetings. The 225-page report recommended the phase-out of live sheep export, although of course the Greens would like it to be in 2026 rather than in 2028.

Live exports, we all know, have been in long-term structural decline for decades, and there is now a generous package to transition to the chilled meat trade to provide some sustainability and security. The community knows that sheep are not cargo. Here's why it needs to end. They are not a commodity or a cargo. They are living, breathing, sentient beings, and the horrors inflicted upon them, all for the industry to make profits, are an affront to anything decent and humane. This cruel trade must end, and this cruel trade will end, no matter how many motions the coalition brings into this chamber.

Eighty per cent of submissions to the independent panel supported the end of live export. Eighty-five per cent of submissions to the recent House inquiry supported the end of live sheep export. In 2023, 71 per cent of Western Australians supported the phase-out, including 69 per cent of people in rural and regional areas. In 2022, polling showed that nationally 78 per cent of people support the phase-out of live sheep export. Back in October 2018, I tabled a petition against live sheep exports in the Senate, and it was signed by 238,000 people. That's about 10,000 pages long.

So all the hard work done by the community, animal welfare advocates and activists, whistleblowers and the Greens has finally forced Labor to end live sheep exports, and we're not going to let you undo this historic decision. The motion does nothing other than delay the inevitable. The Nationals are not interested in inquiring into the bill; they just want animal cruelty to continue, and they will not be successful.

I have said this many times, and I will say it again: until this cruel trade ends, live export will remain incompatible with animal welfare, because animal cruelty is at the absolute core of the industry's business model. The coalition would have you believe that animal cruelty is a problem of the past, but that's just plain wrong. In fact, with summer temperatures rising unbearably because of global warming, these ships of misery will get even worse for animals, and no set of standards will make live export ships safe for the sheep. They will still remain ships of misery for the sheep. This cruel trade is irredeemable, and the only option is to shut it down. It was really good to see the bill to end live sheep export pass the House today, and I am looking forward to it coming to the Senate and passing as well, because it is way past time to end live sheep export, and the bill to ensure that must pass immediately.

Long debate text truncated.