The ABC reported that Australia is on track to have its biggest year for mutton exports, with more than 200,000 tonnes sent overseas in the first 10 months of 2024. According to Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), Australia has processed nearly 1 million sheep over the past four weeks, which is up 42 per cent on the same period last year, and up 72 per cent on the same period in 2022.
So....what are Keep the Sheep banging on about and why is live ex so important? Who knows? There is clearly a huge demand and a lucrative market for exported mutton making a mockery of the necessity to send live sheep. So, the obvious choice is to Kill the Sheep here....!

In an opinion piece in Splash 24/7 (Live Animal Exports: False Hopes on a Dying Fleet) , experienced former AAV Dr Lynn Simpson aired similar views to long time exporter and export veterinarian Dr Tony Brightling. Both argue that regardless of legislation, the trade is dying due to lack of ships. Both have proposed similar reasons for that. Dr Simpson points out that Australia is not even a big world player in live sheep export terms these days. If we examine that point further and compare number of sheep exported from each country in 2023, Australia comes in at number 7:

Millions of Live Sheep exported per country 2023
Sudan 5
Somalia 4.5
European Union 2.8
Romania 2.3
Spain 1.4
Jordan 1.3 (so why do we export live sheep to Jordan and where are Australian sheep going really?)
Australia 0.68 

CEO of ALEC Mark Harvey Sutton has hit back and claimed Tony Brightling, an experienced live export figure is “Drastically off course” with his analysis of the viability of the live sheep export trade. In an odd statement, Harvey Sutton claimed that Brightling "has twice now commented in support of Labor’s malign ban on live sheep exports".  Even if we ignore the wording, this is a strange assertion as no-one reading the two Brightling opinion pieces would find any support of Labor's legislative changes. Both pieces would appear to claim that the trade is dying anyway and would seem (to an non-exporter) to be urging farmers not to invest in fighting something not worth fighting for and to suggest farmers move on, get more money out of the government, change practices etc rather than being hurt emotionally and financially by a trade that is dying with or without Labor's legislation.
And of course Harvey Sutton provided no explanation as to why there have been no big ships into Fremantle since the end of the NHS summer (September). The Al Messilah may be being patched up in China. But where is the Maysora? the Al Kuwait? the Ocean Drover? Anna Marra (Awassi Express)? Where are the exporters if all is so rosy? Could Tony Brighting perhaps be correct...more money and less red tape elsewhere so why bother with Australia?

In an opinion piece in Beef Central, long time live exporter and live export stalwart Dr Tony Brightling, again expressed concerns about the viability of the live export sheep trade from Australia.

Brightling cites the distance from market, inability to supply year-round, animal welfare pressures, regulatory constraints and costs, regional hostilities and now also a shortage of shipping as unsurmountable obstacles to the long term viability in addition to winding back legislative change.

He again analyses lack of ships (there are no big ships coming into Freo currently) and points out that new builds would be required. "Convincing ship owners to invest the hundreds of millions of dollars required to build a new fleet of large livestock vessels that meet AMSA standards, to service an industry in its death throws – well, good luck with that one."

And he sums up "No amount of political posturing or farming community advocacy is going to change these fundamentals. There is no realistic prospect of a viable live sheep export trade after 1 May 2028. Time to move on."

See: https://www.beefcentral.com/news/opinion-what-does-the-future-hold-for-australias-live-sheep-trade/

So there it is....in 2024, we send cattle to China (21 days) and Vietnam (often >10 days) and a vet is not required by OUR Commonwealth Government. It seems that even under Joh, some things were better in 1985!!

Whilst the West Australian farming fraternity is calling for "Keep the Sheep"....one has to question where exactly do they want to keep them....at home?
If that answer is wrong, then they need to ask themselves, exactly how they are going to send them anywhere else. As per the pre-ban Opinion Piece from long term live export veterinarian and exporter Dr Tony Brightling in Beef Central (and later Sheep Central), the farmers have yet to solve the problem of finding ships to carry their sheep.

Current status for the bigger ships is:
Al Messilah - been in China for months presumably for maintenance/repairs: AMSA Accreditation status unknown
Maysora - not here, trading South America to Turkey: AMSA accreditation status unknown
AL Kuwait - not here, operating out of South America to Middle East: AMSA accreditation unknown
Ocean Drover - not here, operating out of South America; AMSA accreditation status unknown
Anna Marra (ex Awassi Express) - not here; South America to Turkey; believed to be AMSA accredited

So, its down to the Ocean Swagman (approximately 17000 sheep last voyage and due back) and Jawan (cattle and a few sheep to Aqaba) to rescue WA farmers from their purportedly desperate position. Maybe some turbo-prop required?

So, in the end, it looks like the exporters and not the government are ensuring the sheep are kept firmly HERE, in Australia!

The Economist has reported that China’s dairy farms are awash in unwanted milk. Prices have lowered by 28% since August 2021. At the end of September, one kilogram of raw milk sold for 3.14 yuan (45 cents) on average. That is below the cost of production for many farms. Most have been losing money since the second half of last year.
When Chinese firms produce too much of anything for the domestic market, they often export it. But selling Chinese dairy products overseas is not an option. China has to import much of its cattle feed, so the cost of production is high by international standards. In addition, Chinese dairy products have a poor reputation following the melamine scandal.
All this leaves Chinese dairy farmers in a bind. Some are reportedly dumping milk. The state is trying to help by encouraging banks to extend more loans to farmers and to accept cattle as collateral (we are not quite sure how they works!). But the China Dairy Association thinks the problem is too many cows and the president of the Association has called for culling 300,000 cows. Given whistleblowers have described poor animal welfare in Chinese dairy cows in previous years, VALE has heightened concerns about the welfare of exported Australian heifers and cows in China. So the export bonanza is over and economy has achieved what good welfare science couldnt but at what a price for those animals.

See https://www.economist.com/china/2024/10/03/why-china-is-awash-in-unwanted-milk
 

Following the IGLAE report on the Independent Observer Report, there have been renewed calls for having an independent veterinarian on every ship. VALE has long called for this. AVA have long called for it (albeit recently modified their policy to just having a vet on every ship, not necessarily independent - good lobbying by industry!). The RSPCA has called for it.
The Inspector General has reported that there are deficiencies in the independent observer program and that a post-implementation review into the independent observer program found that "reports from onboard Australian Government accredited veterinarians (AAVs) and stockpersons often lacked sufficient detail for the department to make informed regulatory decisions (DAWE and AMSA 2020)." Yup....and thats why we need an INDEPENDENT veterinarian on every ship.
See article in the Weekly Times: Push for vets on every live export voyage grows after sheep deaths

Its an extraordinary story from Newsroom.
With the NZ Government on track to phaseout and end live export of dairy cattle, the exporters were working hard with the Ministry of Primary Industry to develop gold standards for continued exporting.
Damien O’Connor, who was Minister for Agriculture at the time has told Newsroom he would never have signed off on the work, and was not told by officials it was being done.  “Obviously, if I had knowledge of that, I would not have endorsed it, given that the trade was about to finish.” A live exports working group was set up following the 2020 sinking of Gulf Livestock 1. A report by Mike Heron QC recommended this group needed representatives from the industry and the ministry, as well as Maritime NZ, and animal welfare experts and advocates. Shortly after this, the government confirmed a total ban on the trade. The group was then tasked with overseeing the two-year transition period, particularly making sure recommendations from the Heron report were being worked toward. BUT despite the Heron recommendation, members were industry representatives, the food assurance company AsureQuality, and ministry officials - the group included no animal welfare experts and advocates.
The FOI process in NZ is actually functional. With the Dept of Ag resisting any FOI about live export, such information would never come to light in Australia.

Why? Insufficient voyages have IOs deployed with the most common reason being exporters signing statutory declarations that they cant accommodate an IO. The IGLAE clearly has his doubts!

Why are they still necessary? Contrary to the assertions by industry, a post-implementation review into the independent observer program found that "reports from onboard Australian Government accredited veterinarians (AAVs) and stockpersons often lacked sufficient detail for the department to make informed regulatory decisions (DAWE and AMSA 2020)."

Conclusion: "the IO program does not appear to provide acceptable levels of assurance regarding the health and welfare of livestock across all markets.”

See IGLAE Report
See VALE Summary