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Animal welfare roundtable ignores science while live export ban remains in place
The Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council said today that the Australian Government’s Australian Animal Welfare Strategy (AAWS) cannot proceed while the live sheep ban remains in place as it was based on politics and not science.
Meeting in Canberra to take part in the AAWS roundtable today, CEO Mark Harvey-Sutton said the Australian Government cannot meet its objectives of having an ‘evidence-based and science led AAWS’ as long as the live sheep ban remains and noted that it was outrageous timing to hold it during caretaker conventions due to the contentious nature of the discussion.
“This is because the live sheep ban was not based in science. It was done for political purposes. The Australian live export industry leads the world in welfare standards as verified by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry as the regulator.”
Mr Harvey-Sutton said developing a national framework for animal welfare was incredibly important and ALEC was not opposed to the development of a renewed AAWS and wanted to contribute positively.
“We are not opposed to sensible animal welfare reforms. However, the Albanese Government made the decision to ban live sheep exports based on ideology. We have also seen the Government accept blatantly false and misleading assertions from activist groups to attempt to justify banning the trade. Given this, we cannot assume the AAWS development process is being led in good faith, when animal welfare policy is currently being dictated by activists,”
“The roundtable will have a divide in the room between agricultural groups who have led Australian agriculture to have the highest animal welfare standards in the world, and activist groups, intent on denigrating and misrepresenting the current standards and outcomes in Australian animal welfare,” he said.
Mr Harvey-Sutton said it was difficult to see how a cohesive and agreeable strategy could be developed or implemented in these circumstances.
“The Australian Government must make a decision: either it bases its animal welfare policy on science and evidence and actively promotes Australia’s high standards, or it bases it on the demands of activist ideology, because the two are incompatible and there is no middle ground. If it is the latter, this will be to the detriment of Australian agriculture and local and international consumers.”
Read about the development of the renewed Australian Animal Welfare Strategy: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/agriculture-land/animal/welfare/aaws/the-renewed-aaws
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