23 agricultural groups have collectively written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today warning that his Government’s policy to ban live sheep exports will cause “irreversible harm” to Australia’s agricultural sector, rural communities and overseas trade relationships without scientific basis.
The letter has been co-signed by groups from across the Australian agricultural sector including the National Farmers Federation, Sheep Producers Australia, Wool Producers Australia, all mainland State Farm Organisations, Cattle Australia, Goat Industry Council of Australia, Grain Producers Australia, the Australian Lot Feeders Association, Australian Dairy Farmers and the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association and State based livestock export representative bodies.
The ban will not only cause “significant damage” but it will also be an “abject failure” because markets will continue to source live sheep from countries that do not have the same animal welfare standards as Australia.
Today’s letter follows a similar letter written to Agriculture Minister Murray Watt in March, which identified live sheep exports as a “red line issue” for the entire agricultural sector, and advised that “the only outcome that would be acceptable” to Australian agriculture was a reversal of the policy.
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