Industry slams Greens live sheep trade phase out bill "stunt"

In a Bill introduced into the Senate on Wednesday, the Greens have called for May 1, 2026 to set as the official end of the live sheep trade, with Deputy Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi suggesting the timeframe would be "sufficient time for market adaptation and a reasonable phase out".

Activist group Australian Alliance for Animals had previously suggested the May 1, 2026 date in a submission to the phase out panel last year, with a spokesman for the group coming forward to publicly welcome the Bill on Wednesday morning, before it had even been tabled.

Australian Livestock Exporters' Council chief executive officer Mark Harvey-Sutton said the Bill was unreasonable and ALEC "condemnned it wholeheartedly".

"The two-year timeframe they are alluding to is completely out of touch and unrealistic," he said.

"We would say this is nothing more than a cheap political stunt... the only people that we will be taking advice from on government policy is the government itself.

"We have been very strong advocates about the fact that the phaseout should not happen at all and I'm incredulous that the proponents of this Bill believe that two years is reasonable in any shape or form."

Mr Harvey-Sutton said the introduction of the Bill "clearly written by the Australian Alliance for Animals" showed that efforts to phase out the industry were driven by activists.

"They have no interest in looking after the industry that the government's policy will impact, they have no interest in looking after the interests of farmers, this is just a political stunt that will do significant harm to hardworking communities and families right across regional Australia," he said.

WA Farmers president John Hassell said the suggested timeline came "straight out of an animal activist playbook" and wasn't realistic.

"She's a bloody fool, she's got no idea," he said.

"We will not capitulate on legislation for this whatsoever.

"If they create the market conditions that make it an economic imperative for people to send their sheep to the saleyard rather than putting them on a boat, then we're comfortable with that.

"But as soon as you legislate anything that's been proposed by an animal activist, every animal industry in this country is going to be under threat."

It comes as the federal government continues to sit on the phase out panel's report, which was delivered in October, with people on both sides of the issue calling for its release.

Mr Harvey-Sutton said it was important for the sake of transparency that the report be made public.

"A significant amount of time and effort has been put into there," he said.

"We know the panel went to considerable efforts to make sure it was a well-considered report and it has been with the Minister for more than 100 days."

In a statement to explain the Bill, Senator Faruqi commended the "ongoing and courageous efforts of animal welfare advocates."

"No more delay after delay... it's clear the industry does not give a damn about the animals and their welfare, all they care about is their profits come hell or high water," she said.

"The industry has long tried to hide and downplay the true extent of suffering involved in live export."

The statement also included quotes attributable to Australia Alliance for Animals co-founder Jed Goodfellow, saying "the time for action is now" and "there's no excuse for the Federal Government to delay legislating the phase-out date any longer."

Meanwhile, Nationals leader David Littleproud said the Greens' Bill exposed the "hypocrisy" of animal activists who were knowingly transferring the trade to other nations with lower animal welfare standards.

"Animal activists including the Greens are morally bankrupt because they are valuing the welfare and the life of a sheep in Australia over that of another country," he said.

"The reality is, other countries, for cultural reasons, will take this market if we're not there and those other countries have a huge mortality rate of live sheep.

"Australia has the best standards in the world when it comes to exporting live sheep. We don't work on a mortality methodology when assessing shipments. We work on animal welfare. We can count the pants per minute of a sheep and the airflow through a boat."

Mr Littleproud also said shutting down the industry would create a perverse domestic animal welfare outcome and accused the government of "hiding" the panel report because "its so-called scientific and economic evidence simply doesn't exist."

"It is fantasy to suggest we should produce and process live sheep in Australia. Labor is destroying the livelihoods of more than 3000 people who work in the trade and an industry worth $85 million," he said.