In an opinion piece on April 2, Bidda Jones asserts that because people own pets, watch cat videos, and follow the adventures of a seal on social media, live exports must be banned. According to her, if you support live exports, apparently, you're "not a modern Australian".
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I nearly spat out my coffee and tripped over my pet cavoodle when I read this. I proudly support live exports - why can't I be part of modern Australia too?
Live export is an industry that supports livestock production across northern and western Australia and ensures the food security of some of Australia's longest-standing trading partners and allies in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Modern Australians support Australian farmers and the contribution they make to the country's economy and its identity.
I'm proudly fighting against the Albanese government's ban on live sheep exports. This is because since the ban on live sheep exports was announced, the flock in Western Australia has declined by 25 per cent since the ban was announced about 12 months ago and the WA woolclip is down 20 per cent over the same period. In addition, 3000 jobs will be lost in WA, with flow-on economic impacts to the rural communities they support. Despite being the root cause, the Albanese government and activist groups have done nothing to assist - they don't care about rural Australia or our loyal Middle East customers.
To sustain sheep production in WA you need meat processing, wool production and live export, as this competition underpins the price of livestock and the viability of the sheep market. You pull one of these away and the market collapses like a deck of cards - something which is sadly already happening.
It is extremely condescending of Ms Jones to say that "smart farmers" are pivoting to "more lucrative" meat exports and crop production. Is Ms Jones suggesting that there are no smart farmers among the more than 110,000 people who have signed Keep the Sheep's petition to reverse the ban?
For the past five years the live export industry has been engaging Voconiq, a CSIRO spin-off, to find what the community really thinks about live exports. This project, which is the most credible and comprehensive study into this topic (as opposed to the RSPCA push-polling referenced by Ms Jones) published its latest results last November. Seventy-eight per cent of the community agreed the live export industry makes an important economic contribution to Australia and 76 per cent believe the benefits of live export outweigh, or are equal, to the costs of the industry.
Ms Jones neglected to mention, when attempting to reference the industry's study, the 43 per cent of respondents who gave a "neutral" response to the question about animal welfare on live export ships. In addition, 56 per cent of participants in the same survey agreed that they "have confidence that the live export industry is taking effective action to ensure the welfare of animals".
The performance of the sheep trade has improved dramatically in recent years. It is due to a combination of regulation, research and industry management practices. The average mortality rate for shipments in 2022 was 0.14 per cent - the lowest on record.
Also, every live sheep voyage to the Middle East has Australian government-accredited veterinarians and stock hands on board to look after the animals.
Don't let activists pull the plant-based cloth over your eyes. You can be a modern Australian and support live export.
- Mark Harvey-Sutton is chief executive officer of the Australian Livestock Exporters Council.
