Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed Labor will not ban the live sheep trade in this term of government, providing some clarity for producers.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt yesterday confirmed the government would ban live sheep exports by air and sea.
"We honour the commitments that we make, whether they be in this field or anything else," he said.
Weeks before the federal election, Labor confirmed its plan to end Australia's $92 million live sheep trade, which it claimed had been in decline for 20 years.
Mr Albanese today told ABC Radio Perth that "no one was envisaging a phase out in this term of government".
"We went to the election in 2019 with a longer time frame than one term of government," he said.
"We recognise that the farmers who might be listening to your program work hard and they need to be respected."
Issues to work through
Labor plans to ban the trade over animal welfare concerns.
"We need also to make sure that animal welfare issues are looked after," Mr Albanese said.
"So, look, we'll work through those issues to make sure that there's certainty going forward."
Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment figures show 552,957 sheep were exported by sea in 2021, while air exports accounted for 22,572, with one mortality recorded among air transports.
Senator Watt said the government recognised there had to be consultations with industry, relevant state governments, and other stakeholders.
"It's not something that you do overnight," he said.
What did occur overnight 11 years ago was the suspension of the live export of cattle to Indonesia, leading many to fear a live export ban on sheep would be extended to cattle.
But the new Agriculture Minister insisted this was not the case.
"We absolutely have no plans to end or phase out the live cattle export trade," Senator Watt said.
The Prime Minister was also unequivocal about the possibility of a live cattle ban, simply responding "no" when asked if he had any plans to touch that trade.
Clarity for producers
Nutrien is one of the main companies handling sheep in WA, and its state livestock manager, Leon Giglia, said the Prime Minister's comments provided producers with "some clarity".
"There is some period of time for the industry and the livestock producers to adjust their enterprises with the acknowledgement and acceptance that there is going to be a phase out," Mr Giglia told the WA Country Hour.
WA Premier Mark McGowan has defended current rules imposed on the local industry.
"Our position is that the measure we put in place, which were the summer ban in the northern hemisphere ... and the additional vet and animal welfare measures put in place in the industry, was appropriate at this point in time," he said.
When asked if he supported federal Labor's plan, Mr McGowan said he was not across the latest iteration.
Ban on air exports a surprise
Senator Watt's comments about air exports came as a surprise to the Australian Livestock Exporters Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton, who said he would seek further clarification.
"If it's true, I think it does further point to the unnecessary nature of the policy," Mr Harvey-Sutton said.
"Air performance is one of the best ways to transport livestock going around. So, to try and implement a phase out of that strikes me as completely unnecessary."
Mr Harvey-Sutton said he still hoped the industry could change the federal government's mind.
"I think there's a fair bit of consultation that still needs to be done," he said.
In the meantime, the new Agriculture Minister said there were opportunities to look closer to home for meat processing.
"I want to look at what more we can be doing to take Australian agriculture further up the value chain," he said.
"We want to obviously produce the world's best commodities, whether they be beef, lamb, crops, anything whatsoever, but we also want to make sure that we're processing them into the best products."
