New Agriculture Minister Julie Collins offers $32.7 million to help sheep farmers through live export ban

Sheep farmers will get an extra $32.7 million to help them transition through to the live exports ban with the new Agriculture Minister insisting she has been listening to the sector and the WA Government. But exporters have questioned whether the Government is genuinely listening, given it has ignored industry warnings about the impact of the ban. The extra money will be used to beef up grants for increased meat processing and for the State government to fund wellbeing programs while the industry is phased out. The Government’s move to legislate an end to live sheep exports by sea from early 2028 has angered WA farmers who will bear the brunt of the ban. The sector decried an initial $107 million transition package as inadequate. Minister Julie Collins, who took on the agriculture portfolio in July, will announce the funding boost on Tuesday at the start of a three-day visit to WA when she hopes to meet sheep and grain farmers. The package aims to expand processing capacity onshore and develop new markets for farmers to sell sheep meat, such as in the UAE and UK where Australia now has trade deals. Ms Collins has also pledged a co-design process working with sheep producers and the WA Government on how to prioritise help for farmers and supply chain businesses to plan, respond and adapt to the ban. This will include money for financial counselling and community wellbeing. Ms Collins said the sheep industry was a proud and important part of the agricultural sector. “Diversifying trade and expanding customer demand will assist businesses impacted by the phase-out, providing confidence in transitioning away from the live sheep by sea export trade,” she said. “The co-design process that we’ve created ensures that industry is playing a critical role in developing the best possible measures to help the sector transition away from live exports.” The Government argues the live exports industry is in decline anyway, citing figures that it was worth $411 million in 2002-03 but only $77 million in 2022-23 while sheep meat exports have grown to $4.5 billion a year. But the sector says that $77 million was a low point and the number of sheep exported is set to jump more than 20 per cent in the current year. It has also cast doubts on the viability of WA abattoirs if farmers reduce their flock numbers in response to the looming ban. As well as visiting a meat processor, Ms Collins’ trip west will include meeting pastoralists near Broome and talking to crayfish fishermen in Fremantle who will benefit from the deal struck with China last week to lift trade barriers on live lobster exports. But the Kuwaiti-owned Peel Feedlot, operated by Emanuel Exports, say they turned down a request from the minister to visit their facility. Australian Live Exports Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton said he appreciated the minister’s efforts to meet people in WA’s supply chain — and urged those people to use the opportunity to highlight the damage the policy was causing. “However, at the nub of it, we simply asked ourselves what is the point of permitting the visit to the feedlot?” he said. “The industry has already spent years explaining the reforms it has undertaken, its animal welfare achievements and the implications of the ban to farmers and our trading partners. “ALEC will always work with governments, but working together is a two-way street. “Given the appalling behaviour of the Albanese Government to date, why would it start listening now?”