The pleas of rural and regional people in WA have been ignored as the Federal Government “rushes” to move on the Bill to ban live sheep exports, according to Federal MP Rick Wilson.
In a dissenting report published on Friday, Coalition members of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture rejected the Government’s Bill to ban the live export of sheep by sea claiming the inquiry was “rushed”.
However, the committee’s report overall recommended the legislation should pass.
Deputy chair of the committee and Federal member for O’Connor Rick Wilson said the impassioned pleas of 2000 rural and regional people protesting at the hearing at Muresk Institute in Northam this month had been completely ignored.
“The rushed time frame provided to the committee by Labor Minister for Agriculture Murray Watt meant that of the 13,000 submissions received, 4324 of those that were less than 250 words — or 35 per cent of submissions received — were not processed and taken into consideration,” Mr Wilson said.
“We’re asking the Government to do the right thing and hold a proper inquiry over the usual three-to-four-month period and give people the opportunity to have their say.
“Those submissions didn’t get properly dealt with by the committee through lack of time. They were they were effectively ignored.”
The short time frame has not only made it “very difficult” for people to get submissions in, but there have also been only two hearings for the inquiry with one in Canberra, and one in Muresk.
The usual parliamentary protocol for an inquiry takes three to four months to allow evidence to be reasonably presented and contested by both sides, Mr Wilson said.
“The Opposition wanted to have this inquiry stand up for four months and give people ample time to get their submissions together and so there’d be plenty of time for the committee to travel across Australia, but mostly regional Western Australia to hold hearings,” he said.
“I think they want to rush this legislation through as quickly as possible. It’s causing them some political grief through the Keep The Sheep campaign, which has sprung up and is continuing to grow and become a formidable political problem for the Government.”
He said there is overwhelming evidence from industry bodies that the legislation will cause significant damage to agriculture producers and rural communities.
“The Ag department’s evidence was that the industry is in decline — which is not true,” Mr Wilson said.
“We heard evidence at Muresk on Friday from vets who currently work on boats that the changes that have been made since 2018 have increased animal welfare outcomes dramatically.
“We, the Coalition committee, came to the conclusion that the overwhelming evidence was to reject the Government’s Bill and to keep the industry (for) as long as possible.”
A Government spokesperson told the Times the current Government went to the last two elections with a promise to phase out live sheep exports by sea with a panel created last year to consult with stakeholders on the issue.
“Panel members were selected based on their diverse set of skills and experiences in agriculture, public administration, economics and animal welfare,” the spokesperson said.
“From March to October 2023, the panel met with over 2000 people, received over 4100 submissions and survey responses and held 80 face-to-face and virtual meetings with industry and stakeholders.
“The Government accepted advice from the panel’s final report in finalising the phase-out date and delivering a $107 million taxpayer-funded transition package.
“In addition to the panel’s work, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture held two public hearings this month and received over 13,000 contributions from individuals, organisations and stakeholders.
“This included 6683 form letters and campaign emails in favour of the Bill and/or policy, 1156 form letters and campaign emails that were critical of the bill and/or policy, and 228 emails that were received as correspondence relating to the inquiry.”
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt told the Times it was “pleasing” to see the Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea legislation was recommended to be passed by the Standing Committee.
“The Committee noted that the taxpayer-funded support package has the potential to strengthen segments of the WA economy and presents opportunities for WA businesses and livelihoods — particularly in terms of onshore processing, packaging, and frozen exports,” he said.
“The committee heard evidence that the Government’s policy and investment would create between 500 and 800 extra direct jobs in meat processing with many more indirect jobs to flow.
“This means more jobs for WA and paves the way for West Australian farmers to supply Australia’s $7 billion sheepmeat market.
“I thank the committee for their hard work in undertaking the inquiry and producing this report.”
Mr Wilson said in his view, the Keep The Sheep campaign was not going away — even if the legislation passes.
“They (Keep The Sheep) have known all along that the Government is probably not going to change its mind,” Mr Wilson said.
“Therefore, they are saying, ‘if we can’t change the Government’s mind or can’t change the policy, then we’ll have to change the government’.”
Mr Wilson said the knock-on effect of losing small businesses and contractors within the sheep industry throughout rural WA would be devastating for small country towns.