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24/09/2024 - 13:27

Albanese rules out more sheep export aid

24/09/2024 - 13:27

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Anthony Albanese has ruled out expanding the $107 million government compensation bill for live sheep exporters during a visit to Perth today but says he’s open to proposals from farmers for value-add projects.

Albanese rules out more sheep export aid
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out further support for the live sheep export industry.

Anthony Albanese has ruled out expanding the $107 million government compensation bill for live sheep exporters during a visit to Perth today but says he’s open to proposals from farmers for value-add projects.

Speaking at a press conference flagged by WA Premier Roger Cook, the Prime Minister said the recent free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates would pave the way for the industry to transition to chilled and frozen meat exports.

“Well, we have, of course, $107 million on the table for compensation. We want to make sure there’s a transformation in an orderly way,” he said.

“I know that the live sheep exports are worth about $80 million. This is an industry, when it comes to sheep meat exports, that’s made over $4 billion in the same year.”

“I note that the deal we’ve done with the UAE will be, potentially, worth more than the entire worth of the live export industry.”

The UAE was once a major destination for Australia’s live sheep trade, but now it’s a major importer of chilled and frozen lamb and mutton, with exports valued at $266 million in 2023.

The free trade agreement signed last week is the first such agreement Australia has signed with a Middle Eastern nation.

The deal is estimated to be worth around $50 million a year in tariff savings.

The Australian Meat Industry Council last week welcomed the agreement as a pivotal development in strengthening Australia’s economic and trade ties with UAE.

AMIC chief executive Patrick Hutchinson said the FTA positioned the industry in a strong position for continued expansion in the Middle Eastern markets.

Despite the Federal Government ushering WA sheep farmers to lean on packaged meat as they transition away from live exports, WA is already struggling with abattoir capacity.

Asked whether farmers could expect any further support to phase out live sheep exports, Mr Albanese said the $107 million package already committed was “firm”.

“But if people have proposals – and I note the WA Government has been keen on this as well – we’re prepared to engage constructively,” Mr Albanese said.

He then took aim at political opponents for their stance on the matter.

“What we want is the industry to be more prosperous, for jobs to be value added here by producing the sheep meat for export as well as for domestic consumption,” he said.

“And I note the hypocrisy of Sussan Ley in coming to Perth and pretending that she wasn’t the person who moved a private member's bill to ban this industry, along with other front bench members of Peter Dutton’s opposition in Jason Wood and others, they were busy campaigning for this live export industry to end.”

His comments came after Ms Ley was queried on her live sheep export backflip while speaking to 6PR at the Perth Royal Show yesterday.

"Well, I'm proud that the stand that I took made the industry more sustainable, and the Department of Agriculture was part of that as well, and Western Australian farmers were part of that," she said when asked if she had changed her tune on the industry.

"So we can hold our heads high, proud that we have a sustainable trade that is above any other in the rest of the world, and a government that ignores farmers, does so at its peril."

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