Keep the Sheep issues plea to Anthony Albanese to reverse ‘damaging’ live sheep export ban legislation

Keep the Sheep campaign manager Ben Sutherland has penned an 11th hour letter directly to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, urging him to have the “courage” to use the potential last sitting weeks to reverse a planned ban on live sheep exports. In the letter, sent this week, Mr Sutherland implored the Federal Government to scrap its plan to ban live sheep exports from May 1, 2028 — claiming those campaigning in favour of the move had links to “extreme vegan activists” The truck driver, who runs 5K Livestock in Ravensthorpe, claimed Mr Albanese had chosen to support “extreme interstate activists over hard-working WA “farmers and regional communities, who were suffering at his government’s hands”. He said the $139m transition package promised by the Federal Government would barely “scratch the surface” of the economic loss the ban would cause. “Three years does not allow time for businesses to restructure their flocks,” Mr Sutherland wrote. “The WA Government has said the transition would take at least 10 years with $1.2 billion assistance. “Good governments do not shut down industries that support regional businesses and communities — no matter how small you may consider them – for political purposes.” The letter pointed to the 25 per cent decline in WA’s sheep flock in 2024, with industry believing it will fall to 6 million in 2025. That figure represents a 50 per cent decrease in two years. It also also pointed to the fact two major abattoirs had closed in WA in recent years, claiming it was due to “concerns about future viability”, and that wool production in WA was at its lowest since the 1920s due to flock liquidation. “Shearers, the catalyst of the Labor movement, are reporting their businesses have dropped by 30 per cent in the last 12 months,” Mr Sutherland wrote. “The reason for these outcomes is simple, a viable WA sheep industry needs competition from three markets — meat processing, wool production and live exports. “You take one of these away then the viability of sheep production in WA is damaged and all three of these industries suffer the dire consequences of your policy.” Mr Sutherland also highlighted the economical impact on local businesses and regional communities, and accused Mr Albanese of giving farmers “no time and superficial support”. At the end of the letter, he doubled down on industry’s determination to fight the ban, claiming the Keep the Sheep campaign had more than 110,000 supporters and had a “significant fighting fund”. “We have hundreds of volunteers ready to deliver a simple message to key electorates in WA — the Albanese Government is hurting WA farmers and their communities: Put Labor last,” he wrote. “It takes courage to admit you have been misled and that you have got it wrong. “Please do the right thing for WA; repeal the ban, listen to the farmers that feed and clothe Australia and the world.” Farmers this week accused Federal Labor of secrecy over its live sheep export phase-out, with those affected by the ban saying they had not heard of a series of WA “co-design workshops” until the day of the first event. The Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry held the first of 14 workshops in WA this week, with its 11 regional sessions bookended by two Perth sessions on February 3 and 21. A link to register via Humanitix said the workshops were targeted at sheep producers with the aim of directing them to “government programs that could help” with the transition process, as well as “understanding the transition needs” of those affected.