Live export: Pilbara pastoralist Michael Thompson launches campaign to save live sheep trade

A WA pastoralist caught up in Labor’s 2011 live cattle export ban has declared war on the Albanese Government over its plan to end the sheep shipping trade, launching a grassroots campaign to unite farmers and save the industry.

Mundabullangana Station owner Michael Thompson is trying to rally Australia’s various agriculture sectors in the hope of reversing Federal Labor’s policy or booting it out of power at the next election.

Mr Thompson held talks with WAFarmers, the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA and lawyers on Monday as he pushed ahead with his plan.

“I don’t think governments listen to farmers anymore,” he told Countryman.

“It’s wearing me out, and I think to myself, I’ve got to go and fight for my children and my grandchildren’s future in farming, and that’s what I’m doing.”

Though he is not a sheep producer, Mr Thompson — who runs a 225,000ha cattle station about 100km south-west of Port Hedland — said he refused to “sit back and watch” while farmers’ livelihoods were put on the line.

While he only began planning his campaign early this month, he has floated the idea of farmers nationwide chipping in $15 a head for every breeding cow, $2 for every breeding ewe, and $10 for every “cropable hectare”.

Hundreds of millions of dollars could be raised in this way to establish a “fighting fund” to pay for lawyers and fund political campaigns, he said.

“We’ve got to align ourselves with a government that supports farmers, and whether that be Labor, Liberal or National, we’ve got to put our weight behind them,” Mr Thompson said.

“If that comes with helping them with their campaign funds, then whatever it takes. These are the things we discussed around the table.

“What came out of the meeting was that if we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it across all facets of farming; it’s not just live export.”

Mr Thompson said the next step was for farm lobby groups to undertake a feasibility study and formulate a more detailed plan.

“This is going to take time to set up; it’s not going to happen in a week, and it probably won’t happen in a month,” he said.

“But we’ve got a lead-up to the next Federal election, and the next State election is not that far away, and now is the time to start.

“We are, at the moment, doing it well in the live trade, so the government needs to leave us alone and let us do our job.”

Mr Thompson said his business “collapsed” within a week when the Julia Gillard Government imposed a snap ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia after footage emerged of cattle being treated cruelly in Indonesian abattoirs.

Twelve years on from the ban — which was lifted after six weeks and later ruled unlawful by a Federal court — he said many cattle producers had not recovered.

“There’s a lot of people that never survived, that were forced to sell their property at a third of their value prior to the ban,” Mr Thompson said.

“You never get back what you lose. After the ban, it probably took a minimum of five years to see prices get back, and for confidence to come back.

“I have seen the damage that the ban on live cattle exports in 2011 did to innocent people, and I’ve seen what governments have done for the last 30 or 40 years to farming, farmers and their communities.”

Mr Thompson accused Federal Labor of “bowing” to animal activist groups, saying he had no doubt the live cattle trade would be next on the chopping block.

“If anyone thinks they’re just going to stop at sheep only, think again. You’d be naïve to think that it’s not going to affect cattle producers,” he said.

“The live export trade. . . has ticked every single box that was ever asked, and it’s still not good enough.”

Mr Thompson said many farmers had already been in contact to pledge support for his campaign.