A parliamentary committee decision on Friday to give the go-ahead to the Albanese Government’s
proposed ban on the live export of sheep by sea has been vehemently rejected by Sheep Producers
Australia and WoolProducers Australia who said the decision was rushed, unprofessional and
thoughtless.
Sheep Producers Australia CEO Bonnie Skinner said the Inquiry into Export Control Amendment
(Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea) Bill 2024 was seeking to phase out an important supply chain
which provided jobs and supported families, small businesses, and country towns.
“This committee-led green light to let the Albanese Government enforce the live export ban of
sheep by sea is both flabbergasting and insulting,” Ms Skinner said.
“The people on this committee have not listened to the impact this decision will have on
communities or small towns. They're also refusing to read submissions written by producers who
have taken time out of their businesses to put their views forward. It’s absurd.”
WoolProducers Australia CEO Jo Hall said she wanted the people sitting in Canberra to think about
the respected and hardworking men and women in the sheep industry who underpin regional
Australian economies for decades.
“And then I want them to tell us what they’re going to do to replace jobs, put food on tables, and
keep schools open – and that’s just for a start,” Ms Hall said.
“They’re offering a ludicrous compensation package which will barely touch the edges of what will
be needed to support families and their businesses.”
Sheep Producers Australia and WoolProducers Australia both said the policy to ban live sheep
exports by sea, purportedly to protect the welfare of sheep, was poorly conceived, lacking in
evidence, and driven solely by a political agenda.
“The transition package, contingent with the passage of the Bill, is inadequate and does not meet
the stated objectives of the Albanese Government to grow onshore processing or increase the value
of production for Western Australian sheep producers, or protect the industry in any way,” Sheep
Producers Australia CEO Ms Skinner said.
“The Government doesn’t understand the basic economic or competition issues in this space. So we
are just going to have to keep working our logical, evidence-based positions and see if our politicians
can rise above self-interest.”
Both Ms Skinner and Ms Hall reiterated the Government had not undertaken adequate analysis or
due diligence to properly understand or mitigate the negative economic, competition, and social
consequences of the ban of live sheep export by sea.
There must be a Senate inquiry into the Bill, held over an extended period to allow proper
consideration of the complex issues associated with this decision, with the opportunity for hearings
in the sheep producing and southern cattle regions of Western Australia where local businesses and
communities will be affected, they said.
“We won’t stop fighting for what’s right,” Ms Skinner said.
“Yep, we’re in this to the end and we will continue to support and defend our Western Australian
producers,” Ms Hall said.
END
Released by:
Sheep Producers Australia and Wool Producers Australia
Media
Sarah Porter
E: comms@sheepproducers.com.au or 0432 250 532
Available for interviews
Sheep Producers Australia CEO Bonnie Skinner
E: ceo@sheepproducers.com.au or M: 0412 472 710
or
Australian Wool Producers CEO Jo Hall
E: jhall@woolproducers.com.au or M: 0488 554 811
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