Australia: Live sheep trade remains in limbo as new markets negotiated

Lamb

Published Feb 26, 2024

Tridge summary

The Australian Labor party's decision to phase out the live sheep by sea trade is causing concern among industry stakeholders, including the WA Livestock Exporters Association. The decision comes at a time when the industry is expanding into new markets, including Iran, Iraq, and Morocco. Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has confirmed the phase-out but has not provided a timeline. The closure of the industry could lead to significant job losses and even the closure of a local school. Stakeholders hope that the interests of farmers, exporters, and country towns will be considered in the final decision.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Labor's phase-out of the live sheep by sea trade comes as the industry opens, renews, and expands markets. Picture by Australian Livestock Exporters Council. Ashley James left a short meeting with Agriculture Minister Murray Watt last week frustrated at not hearing the bad news of when his industry would be shut down. The WA Livestock Exporters Association vice chairman was also downcast after hearing face-to-face that the live sheep by sea trade could not be saved. "It's interesting in a sad way. We finished the meeting, and I went home and watched 4 Corners and the poor farmer pushing his cherry trees over," he said. "We have got farmers in WA doing that with their fence lines now, where they are saying they are out of sheep. Selling what animals they have if they can and knocking the fences down and just growing grain." The Orange-based cherry farmers' poignant margin squeeze story set fire to a simmering public anger over supermarket pricing that even Prime Minister Anthony ...

Source: Queenslandcountrylife