Member for Farrer, MP Sussan Ley continues to ruffle feathers with her mission to end live sheep export, leaving some farmers furious.
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Ms Ley presented her private member’s bill to amend the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997 stating a condition livestock exporters to be subject to.
“Livestock that are sheep or lambs must not be exported from Australia, by ship, to: a place in the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea – or any other place if the route is through the Persian Gulf or Red Sea – in a July, August or September, in the transitional period, or at any time after the end of that period, if the duration of that voyage is 10 days or more.
“The transition period is five years.”
Ms Ley explained that she knew “all the arguments that are used to support the live sheep trade because I ran them myself for 15 years.
“Recently I found cause to look at the industry with fresh eyes. I have been shocked, angered, bewildered and disappointed,” she said.
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However, speaking to retired sheep farmer, Cam Woodside, The Area News heard the other side of the argument:
“This is the simplistic way out – politicians never want to fix it, they just want it banned,” Mr Woodside said.
“These are lazy politicians not prepared to deal with the issues.”
Mr Woodside said that the protocols currently in place need only be enforced.
“The Federal Department of Agriculture deserves to be condemned for not enforcing those protocols – there should have been vents on ships,” he said.
“I’m not condoning, in any way shape of form, the treatment of those animals.”
To Ms Ley, Mr Woodside has this to say:
“Get back to your conservative roots, and stop pandering to the inner-city which doesn’t vote for you.”
Mr Woodside is also concerned that Ms Ley is opening floodgates for other areas to be examined.
But, when asked how she felt about the mortality of cattle, buffalo, goats – all animals affected in live export – Ms Ley responded:
“This Bill only deals with long haul live exports to the middle the east – which is 96% of all this trade.”
However, the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, and the Live Export Industry Consultative Committee have reported the mortality rates for transport and found that, for example, sheep and goats exported by air to Malaysia (in 2015) suffered mortality rates of 18.66% and 4.8% (respectively).
Ms Ley responded: “Transporting breeding stock by air is a totally different proposition, shorter and climate controlled, where animals need to be in good condition when they arrive.”
However, if this is an animal welfare issue, surely Ms Ley would be concerned about all deaths in transport including by air.
