Live sheep trade to be banned in 2028, industry transition package announced

Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Murray Watt made the long-awaited announcement in Perth on Saturday, promising that legislation to enable the phaseout will be introduced into parliament before the next election.

He also released a 28-recommendation report that was handed to the government last October by an independent panel formed to advise it on how and when to best phase-out the industry.

As part of the government's response to the report, $107m will be spent over five years and includes $64.6m to assist all impacted parts of the sheep industry supply chain, from farmers, to truckies and shearers, prepare business plans "for their adjustment away" from the trade.

"Possible avenues for action could include seeking necessary advice, training staff and making physical and financial changes to business operations or infrastructure," the report said.

It will also be used to cover expansion of domestic abattoir capacity, including cold storage options, expanding lines at existing processing facilities and installation of feedlots near processors.

The panel said the government should also allocate a "high priority" to the meat processing industry to accelerate processing of skilled visa applications, along with increasing WA's skilled migration program allocation to supply additional workers to the sheep processing industry in regional WA.

It also called for existing local workers to be helped to change their skill sets or employment where required.

The panel also encouraged all levels of government to streamline planning and approval processes to facilitate infrastructure improvements in the WA sheep supply chain.

Meanwhile, $27m will be spent to maintain and develop international markets, including funding for Austrade and market analysis and livestock trade experts to negotiate potential adjustments in trade with the industry's biggest trading partners in the Middle East.

The panel said that potential growth in markets should be complemented by governments somehow helping to increase air freight capacity for sheep products from WA, including consideration of time-limited assistance for air freight costs.

However, one of the report's recommendations was that the government to have announced the phaseout date in 2023.

It is expected that the phaseout will target gradually easing producers and supply chain participants out of the industry, rather than a gradual reduction in trade with quotas and markets to remain at current rates until 2028.

An axe has been hovering above the industry since Labor first announced the policy in 2018.

Mr Watt said the government had taken time "to get this right", believing the approach strikes the right balance between industry and animal welfare concerns.

"This is a comprehensive package that will assist to strengthen supply chains, develop market opportunities and improve animal welfare," he said.

"Transition support is focused on helping affected individuals, businesses and communities to plan for, respond and adjust to the phase out.

"We are putting support on the table now so that people can start planning and acting now.

"We want to ensure those affected by the phase are well-positioned, resilient and ready when the trade ends in 2028."

Meanwhile, more than $2.5m will go towards beefing up sheep welfare monitoring and $1.7m to appoint a Transition Advocate to facilitate two-way communication between industry and government, provide information to industry about the transition plan and support, and provide advice to government on how the transition is progressing.

A further $11.1 million will be set aside to pay for the administration and implementation of the phase out, including a stocktake of transition progress in 2026-27 and to facilitate ongoing engagement with industry, communities, trading partners and other stakeholders, including money for financial and mental health counselling.

The funding will be forward loaded through the Budget to encourage stakeholders to adopt the transition early to avoid oversupply issues in four years' time.

The government supported 23 of the report's 28 recommendations, with the other five noted and accepted where there is crossover between state and federal responsibility.

The report also recommended that the government should support supply chain businesses with a high reliance on live sheep exports by sea to exit the industry if they are unable to transition by the cessation date.

Along with supporting cattle producers who may be affected by the end of live sheep exports by sea.

WA sheep producers have not only been facing the ban but a crippling dry period that have seen prices drop to as low as $1, with even claims ructions in the WA market were impacting eastern sheep markets.

Meanwhile, Nationals leader David Littleproud said a future Coalition Government will maintain the live sheep trade if it wins the next election.

Sheep producers and industry stakeholders slammed the announcement, saying the transition package was not enough to mitigate the devastation the industry would face.

Mt Ascot Merinos stud principal Nigel Brumpton said the government's plans to expand domestic meat abattoir capacity didn't take into account labour difficulties that had affected the processing sector in recent years.

"The cattle industry and goats are the same, they can't get enough staff already," he said.

"The live export industry and the wider sheep industry have put decades of work into developing those Middle Eastern markets... we're going to lose those markets.

"It's a kick in the guts for the whole sheep industry."

Liberal member for Grey Rowan Ramsey recently said the confidence in the sheep industry dropped to its lowest point in decades while the ban details were up in the air, and farmers reported being "fearful" for its future and that of "family farms and businesses and their wider rural communities."

Financial impact modelling by the North Eastern Wheatbelt Regional Organisation of Councils showed that the ban could cost its seven shires more than $128 million over the next 20 years.

The three-person Independent Panel was chaired by long-time public servant Phillip Glyde an.

The panel also included Western Australian agriculture expert Sue Middleton, former Federal Labor Minister Warren Snowdon and former RSCPA chief executive Heather Neil.

Labor's phase-out of the live sheep by sea trade also comes at a brutal time for an industry getting back on its feet and opening, renewing or expanding markets.

This includes three new sheep and cattle markets currently being negotiated between the Federal Government and Iran, Iraq and Morocco.