Peak sheep farming bodies call committee’s recommendation to pass live export Bill ‘rushed and thoughtless’

Australia’s sheep farming peak bodies have lashed out at the “rushed, unprofessional and thoughtless” decision to go ahead with the Bill which will ban live sheep exports by sea, and have joined the calls for a Senate inquiry.

It comes after the House of Representatives Standing Committee for Agriculture handed down its report on Friday, June 21, and recommended the Bill be passed.

Sheep Producers Australia CEO Bonnie Skinner called the announcement “flabbergasting and insulting”.

“The people on this committee have not listened to the impact this decision will have on communities or small towns,” she said.

“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.”

Wool Producers Australia CEO Jo Hall said she wanted politicians sitting in Canberra to think about all the men and women working in the sheep industry.

“And then I want them (the politicians) 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.”

Ms Skinner hit out at the transition package, the $107 million announced as part of the Federal Budget, and said it would not “protect the (sheep) industry in any way,” let alone help grow WA’s onshore processing capacity.

“The Government doesn’t understand the basic economic or competition issues in this space,” she said.

“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 represented their respective organisations at the first public hearing in Canberra, where they voiced to the inquiry their serious concerns not just for the sheep industry, but for rural communities.

During the hearing, Ms Hall said woolgrowers employ a wide range of workers such as shearers, wool handlers, wool classers, wool pressers and cooks, and also engage the services of livestock agents, wool brokers, and fencing contractors — all people who spend their money and make a living in regional towns.

“Take away the sheep, and these will disappear,” Ms Hall told the inquiry.

“It also demonstrates that the $107 million transition package is an insult. This decision to ban live sheep exports will not only impact sheep and wool producers; it will kill regional economies.”

Both Ms Skinner and Ms Hall said there needs to be a Senate inquiry into the Bill to be “held over an extended period to allow proper consideration of the complex issues associated with this decision.”