1 My colleagues and I on the Coalition Agriculture Policy Committee visited over half a dozen towns across WA last week, and the message we will be sending to the Labor Government is clear:
The situation is dire.
From plummeting sheep prices to mental health concerns, the proposed phase-out of live exports is already taking a heavy toll. It’s not just farmers and their families, but entire communitiesthat are at risk.
We heard about:
- Economic hardship: Sheep prices are at record lows, forcing some farmers out of sheep production altogether.
- Mental health crisis: An uncertain future and the potential culling of stock of no commercial value is causing immense emotional stress.
- Discouraged future generations: media scrutiny and online trolling and discrediting of our hard-working farmers is driving young people out of the industry.
- Crumbling communities: The decline of our sheep industry threatens the viability of local businesses, schools, volunteer organisations and essential services.
1 This isn't just about live sheep exports.
Labor's proposed car and ute tax, agricultural worker shortages, and the WA Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act are all contributing to a "death by a thousand cuts" for WA farmers.
There is a growing disconnect between the city and the country, and we need people in our capital cities to understand how vital the food and fibre from our regions is to our Australian quality of life.
Here's what you can do:
- Share our campaignwith your friends and family to let them know about the importance of Australian farmers and live exports.
- Contact your local Federal Member of Parliament: Let them know you stand with our farmers and urge them to support live exports.
- Forward this email: to a friend or family member in the city and encourage them to pass it on.
What will we do?
The Committee will call on the Labor Government in Parliament to:
- Explain why they are closing a viable, legal industry scientifically proven to maintain the world’s best animal welfare standards throughout the supply chain to destination market.
- Release the findings of the Independent Panel on the Live Export of Sheep by Sea.
- Announce the date and plans for their proposed ban on live sheep exports, and what they are going to do to support WA sheep farmers.
- Re-open the DAFF investigation into animal activist funded acts of cruelty, in light of more recent evidence.
Our WA farmers deserve to continue to do what they do best...feeding and clothing a hungry nation, and providing food security to countries that cannot produce this food and fibre for themselves.
