In short:
Federal Labor this week achieved its long-held ambition of banning live sheep exports by sea, with the practise to end by 2028.
The WA government has repeatedly stated it does not believe the current funding package is adequate to support the transition away from live exports.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said he’s “hopeful” of reaching an agreement with the WA government on the issue.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has left the door open to providing more funding for those impacted by the government’s legislated plan to end live sheep exports.
Federal Labor this week achieved its long-held ambition of banning live sheep exports by sea after rushing legislation through parliament that will see the trade end in May 2028.
In an interview with Stateline WA, Minister Watt insisted the federal government’s $107 million transition package was “significant”, but said he was hopeful of reaching an agreement with the WA government over what was needed.
The WA government has repeatedly stated it does not believe the current funding package is adequate to support the transition away from live exports over the next four years.
The WA government estimates shutting down live exports will cost the agricultural industry roughly 400 jobs and around $123 million annually.
“We will obviously continue our discussions with the Western Australian government,” Minister Watt said.
“We’d certainly be hopeful that we can reach an agreement with them.”
WA government considers ‘all options’
WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis flew to Canberra last week to make the case that WA farmers would need more financial support.
“We don’t support this bill and believe it will have a negative impact on rural communities,” Minister Jarvis said.
“I recently had productive meetings with Minister Watt and [Resources] Minister [Madeleine] King in Canberra, where I raised the concerns of our farmers.
“We are continuing to consider all options and I intend to meet with industry in the coming weeks to determine the best pathway forward.”
Minister Watt could not say when any of the money from the transition package would hit the pockets of those impacted by the ban.
“We’ve obviously got to have those discussions with the Western Australian government and industry,” he told Stateline WA.
“It’s only this week that we’ve now managed to pass the legislation which gave us the power to provide these grants.
“But I’m keen to have some of that money flowing as quickly as we can.”
Not enough money
WA is the only state that that still exports sheep by sea, primarily for slaughter and consumption in the Middle East.
Just $64.6 million of the total funding package has been allocated to “assist businesses to plan and implement transition actions and to expand domestic sheep processing capacity, (…) support community wellbeing activities and [provide] rural financial counsellors”.
When giving evidence to a federal parliamentary committee last month, the acting chief executive officer of the Western Australian Meat Industry Authority said the current package would not even cover the capital investment required to expand WA’s abattoirs in order to increase onshore processing.
“The federal government needs to consider the message it is sending to the WA sheep industry with this commitment to this level of funding,” I-Lyn Loo told the inquiry.
“Significant capital investment in Western Australian meat processing capacity is required to enable a smooth transition in the accelerated four-year timeframe outlined in the bill.
“Over the past 10 days or so, I have consulted with seven of the largest sheep and lamb export abattoirs in Western Australia and one soon-to-be-opened abattoir.
“In total, these abattoirs identify that capital investments of more than $435 million are required for the expansion of processing capacity in Western Australia.”
Minister Watt said the shortfall would be covered by private investment.
“Having spoken to many of the meat processors who are active in Western Australia, they’ve already told me that they have intentions to expand their processing operations already,” he said.
Ban unites
The decision to end the live sheep trade has galvanised farmers, shearers, exporters, truckies and regional communities.
Inner-city voters have also expressed concerns about the impact on farmers, as reflected by Curtin’s Teal MP Kate Chaney sensationally backflipping and deciding to vote against the legislation after “listening to constituents”.
But Minister Watt insisted that, overall, more people wanted the ban, even in WA.
“Obviously, not everyone agrees with this, and not everyone voted for this at the last election,” he said.
“I respect that. But the majority of people did, and we do have an election mandate to now fulfil.”
Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council chief executive officer Mark Harvey-Sutton said the federal government had “seriously misread the room in Western Australia”.
An online petition started by a group called Keep the Sheep has garnered more than 64,000 signatures, with the group planning to campaign against Labor in marginal seats.
The federal coalition has pledged to overturn the ban if elected.
