WA Livestock Exporters’ Association snubbed at phase-out discussions with Federal Agriculture Minister

WA’s live export peak body had to invite itself to a meeting between Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt and industry stakeholders in Perth last week after learning of the gathering just a day before it was held. Senior members of the WA Livestock Exporters’ Association were granted a seat at the critical meeting, but only after lodging a last-minute request with Senator Watt’s office. WALEA chairman John Cunnington said the organisation was left blindsided by the snub, which comes as Federal Labor pushes ahead with plans to phase out the live sheep trade. “We had to ask to be allowed to come along,” he said. “We said, ‘we hear you’re having a live export meeting and do you think we can be involved?’ Then they sent me the invite at 2pm for a 10.30am meeting the next day.” Senator Watt jetted into Perth on Wednesday morning and wasted no time meeting with agricultural lobby groups to discuss the Albanese Government’s impending phase-out. Also present — after receiving advance invitations — were representatives from WAFarmers and the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA. Mr Cunnington suspected WALEA may simply have been “forgotten”. He said the three groups asked many “important questions” and “provided some real food for thought”, adding that the meeting appeared to make an impression on Senator Watt. “The producers, especially, really challenged him about the future of agriculture,” Mr Cunnington said. “He was told processing is not the solution to this and there is no silver bullet. “If the wool clip halves because of the reduction in the market, and the sheep herd declines rapidly, what responsibility is he going to take for that? “How is history going to look at this when the WA sheep flock is decimated?” WATT SPEAKS Senator Watt also met representatives of meat processing companies WAMMCO, V&V Walsh, Beaufort River Meats and Hillside Meat Processors, as well as meat exporter Minerva Foods and RSPCA WA, during the two-day trip. The main event was a meeting with all State and Territory Agriculture Ministers on the Thursday, though the subject of live exports was absent from the agenda. But at a press conference — less than an hour after his meeting with WALEA — Senator Watt declared shutting down the $92 million sheep shipping trade was “the right thing to do”. “I recognise the improvements exporters have made to animal welfare standards when it comes to live sheep exports, but the reality is… this industry has by and large lost community support,” he said. “We have a responsibility as a government to do the right thing, to uphold strong animal welfare standards, but also to make sure farming communities and individual farmers are supported in that change process, and that’s what we intend to do.” Figures released this month reveal the industry is staging something of a comeback, with the number of Australian sheep exported — 99 per cent of which are shipped from WA ports — increasing by 42 per cent in the first five months of this year. But Senator Watt doubled down on previous claims it was “an industry in decline”, saying farmers and exporters had already been adapting to “transition” for “quite some time”. “It was only a few years ago that WA exported about two million live sheep. That number is now down to about five or 600,000, so there has been a massive reduction,” he said. Asked what he made of critics’ claims the phase-out was ideologically driven and not based on science, Senator Watt said there were “good, sound animal welfare reasons” behind the policy. “There have been numerous incidents, not just one, where we have seen thousands of sheep die at sea or suffer extreme mistreatment, and I don’t think any Australians feel proud about that,” he said. “The latest figures I’ve seen show that, for instance, the mortality rate of live sheep exports is still double what we see in live cattle exports.” Australia’s sheep mortality rate has dropped to about 0.02 per cent in recent years — below the figure recorded on most farms — with improved conditions aboard vessels. In a somewhat bizarre twist of logic, Senator Watt went on to say it was “not surprising” the industry recorded fewer cattle deaths because they were a “hardier species” and were “typically sent on shorter voyages”. He went on to spruik the “massive opportunities” to increase boxed meat exports from Australia, despite acknowledging there were “issues that need to be resolved” — including labour and housing shortages, and processing capacity and capability. He dodged questions on whether the Federal Government would help fund this expansion, saying he was still “waiting for recommendations” from Labor’s phase-out consultation panel. “Having met with a range of different processors here in WA… they feel incredibly confident about their future ability to supply more sheepmeat processed onshore, and (also) sell it overseas,” Senator Watt said. JARVIS WEIGHS IN When quizzed by reporters after the ministers’ meeting, Ms Jarvis — who has repeatedly voiced her support for the live sheep trade — admitted she was at a “frustrating” loggerheads with the Albanese Government. “It’s frustrating but we’ve agreed to disagree on this,” she said. “I don’t know what the panel is proposing with regard to the phase out, (but) I know the industry would like longer to change over their genetics; they want to move from perhaps wool sheep to more prime lamb. “What we really need is a (phase-out) date and some certainty, and some support, so that farm businesses and processors can make business decisions now.” Ms Jarvis said the Cook Government had been “absolutely clear and consistent” that recent animal welfare improvements were “sufficient” to keep the trade operating. She repeatedly said she would fight for “the best deal” for WA producers and processors, but when pressed, admitted she did “not know” that that would look like. “Transition is hard… people will be displaced,” Ms Jarvis said. “I know that people, particularly in the ag sector, sometimes feel like they’re facing a barrage of changes, but I’m confident that we will work through that.” INDUSTRY REACTS PGA vice president Digby Stretch said Senator Watt brought “nothing new” to the table at the meeting. “He reinforced the fact that he’s not changing (the policy), that he will be making a decision on the timeline before the next election, and that the actual date of that happening will be after the election,” Mr Stretch said. “We continued to reinforce that the decision is a really, really poor one with massive, far reaching consequences that no amount of government intervention will manage to soften.” With Labor’s phase-out consultation panel due to hand down its recommendations to Senator Watt in late September, Mr Stretch said all three groups requested the report be made public. “It’s important that the submissions within are publicly available for people to look at… we all deserve that,” he said. “The polling that we do suggests the bulk of the public is coming back on side with live export, as they’re realising we’re doing such a such a such a good job of it these days. “I think the current public perception of live export is vastly different to the one that the Labor Party has built their agenda around.” WAFarmers vice president Steve McGuire, who also attended the meeting, said Senator Watt claimed he had “not yet decided” whether to release the report publicly. “My question to him was, what can we transition to? Because we can’t trust him not to shut down the next thing,” Mr McGuire said. “We know the animal activists aren’t going to stop, that they want to stop us farming animals altogether... and we have a government that makes policy on ideology, not on facts or science.” WA Nationals deputy president Peter Rundle said Senator Watt “refused to make time to meet” with the State Opposition despite numerous requests. “The Minister did not even notify the State Opposition of his visit or invite them to attend any meetings, denying all our requests and denying us the right to stand up for the WA agricultural sector,” Mr Rundle said. Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of WA chief executive Jan Cooper also slammed Senator Watt for failing to meet with transport industry stakeholders impacted by the phase-out.