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ALEC to PM: Give the live export industry a sporting chance
The Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council (ALEC) today reiterated its calls for the Albanese Government to reverse its live sheep ban policy, as the damage is being increasingly felt by Western Australian farmers, their families and friends.
ALEC CEO Mark Harvey-Sutton said that it supported the National Farmers’ Federation’s Keep Farmers Farming campaign to inform Western Australians of the carnage the policy is doing.
“This campaign is crucial in letting people know that a ban on live sheep exports will hurt more than just farmers – it’s an attack on the livelihood of other industries and community groups that rely on them.
“The Prime Minister said in Question Time this week that the collapse in prices is not due to the live sheep ban, because it ‘hasn’t happened’. Unfortunately, this shows a manifest misunderstanding of the ways in which farmers plan for the future.
“The Prime Minister, who is an avid sporting fan of many codes across Australia, knows that if two stars are ruled out of the game the rest of the team has less confidence. However, imagine if the team was told that they couldn’t play in the grand final because of a policy, not of their making, even though they had played within rules and had recorded the best statistics over the last 10 years. That’s not what Australians call a fair go!
“Market confidence is absolutely underpinned by sound policy. The concern here is that the threat of a ban on live exports is already knocking market confidence for farmers and putting Australia’s wool and sheep industries at risk,” he said.
The campaign follows a national survey of more than 1600 farmers, which showed declining confidence in the approach of the Albanese Government, particularly for West Australians in the live sheep industry.
Mr Harvey-Sutton asked the community to come on board with farmers in Western Australia and send a message that West Australian industries are too important to sell out for East coast activist votes.
“If you pass the billboards on your way to work, please use it as a reminder to go to keepfarmersfarming.org.au website to remind Canberra that we need to keep farmers and families farming.”
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