LABOR has refused to put a time frame on the controversial plan to end the live sheep trade.
The Western Australian premier has also revealed he was caught off guard by the announcement and insisted the current rules governing the industry were working.
The party this week revealed it would gradually put an end to the live export of sheep if elected, because the industry has "been in decline for the past 20 years".
However, Labor leader Anthony Albanese today said a time frame was purposefully left out of the policy.
"The amount of live exports has halved in recent times, and we'll continue the summer ban," Mr Albanese said.
"But we'll consult with state governments, in particular the Western Australian state government, but also consult with the agricultural sector, about the issues around live sheep exports."
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Almost all live sheep are exported out of Western Australia.
Labor WA Premier Mark McGowan said he wasn't consulted on the policy.
Mr McGowan said safeguards were recently put in place to keep the trade operating at an acceptable level of animal welfare standards.
"We put in place rules that required a suspension of exports over the northern summer because of the shocking outcomes that were occurring, particularly in the summer months, up in the Persian Gulf," Mr McGowan said.
"I think that measure worked pretty well and I think it was widely accepted.
"And then were was additional vet checks and additional monitoring put in place on some of the ships. I think those measures are effective and I think they're appropriate."
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the Labor leader's vagueness about the policy showed it was "obvious Mark McGowan had overridden Anthony Albanese".
"If you're not interested in agriculture, then you're not going to make the right decisions, you'll make knee-jerk reactions like they did when they banned the live export of cattle," Mr Littleproud said.
Deputy Prime Minster Barnaby Joyce said despite Mr McGowan not supporting the policy, it satisfied the "left wing requirements of Melbourne and Sydney"
"The closure of the live sheep trade, besides from having a decent sting effect on the sheep market, would also be a precursor to pressure to close the live cattle trade and bringing in new regulations on the transport of cattle," Mr Joyce said.
"It's a bad step on to an even worse outcome."
National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson said a great deal of work had been done to improve the standards of the live export industry.
"Disappointingly, instead of equipping themselves with the facts and listening and working with farmers and industry, Labor has copied and pasted their reckless policy from 2019 without any consideration for the 2022 context," Ms Simson said.
"They continue to beholden to a small, uniformed minority made up of radicals who invade farms and steal animals.
"It sends a shiver down the spine of all farmers about the precedent it sets. If live sheep exports can be so easily written off, what's next?"
In 2020-21 Australia exported more than 600,000 sheep, more than half of which were sent to Kuwait.