Mulesing debate: Plans to table at petition calling for mulesing to be banned in New South Wales by 2030

A petition calling for an end to mulesing will be tabled in the New South Wales parliament in coming months after concerns were raised about footage showing the contentious practice farmers argue is needed for sheep welfare. The petition, which will be tabled by NSW MLC and Animal Justice Party member Mark Pearson, has received more than 1500 signatures to date — surpassing the 500 needed to be tabled in the NSW Legislative Council. It was launched after footage of lambs being mulesed was sent to ethics fashion advocacy group Collective Fashion Justice by an ex-wool industry worker who filmed the animal husbandry procedure on a NSW farm. Collective Fashion Justice and Mr Pearson have previously called for a ban on Australian wool imports until mulesing is completely phased out. The practice of mulesing involves cutting the skin away from the lambs’ breech and tail to create a bare area resulting in stretched scar tissue that is less attractive to blow flies. It is estimated 17 per cent of wool producers have introduced different breeds on their farms that don’t need to be mulesed and up to 50 per cent are now looking at alternatives breeds. FOUR PAWS UK was invited this week to show the footage in the British Parliament, as Australian trade agreements are discussed, with a call for a ban on Australian wool imports to be considered until mulesing is completely phased out. The petition calls for a complete phase out of mulesing in NSW by 2030 and also calls for immediate mandatory uptake of pain relief during tail docking, castration and mulesing. Victoria is currently the only state where it is mandatory to use pain relief for mulesing. Debate over mulesing has heated up in recent weeks, with animal rights group PETA launching a public street advertising campaign called “WoolFacts.com” during Australian Fashion Week last month. Major Australian retailers David Jones and Country Road were the first to announce in 2019 that they would use only non-mulesed or ceased-mulesed wool by 2023. The Australian wool industry made a firm commitment in 2005 to phase out mulesing by 2010 after concerns about the practice were first raised publicly in the early 2000s. Australian Wool Innovation abandoned the clothing brands’ calls to boycott the Australian industry by and shifted away from setting a deadline four years later, because of a “lack of clear alternatives”.