LIVE EX BENEFIT TO OTHER COUNTRIES - AN AUSTRALIAN TAXPAYER FUNDED REPORT

The LiveCorp R&D project on the Contribution of Livestock Exports to International Development Goals  is dated October 2025 and was released on the LiveCorp website on 17 January 2026. The Australian government matches LiveCorp R&D funding dollar for dollar. Why should Australian taxpayers pay for a project that is of no benefit to Australian producers or taxpayers?
 
The report itself has some good factual information, but of course leaves out critical information that is unfavourable to industry such as:

• There is mention of animal welfare enhancements after arrival, but no mention of animal welfare issues in transit to Kuwait.
• The report says there is no information available about ‘Waste reduction, responsible production and consumption’. A credible report would mention the carbon footprint and madness of ships taking slaughter sheep on a long-haul voyage, simply to have their heads cut off, before returning to Australia empty. Nor is there any mention of the thousands of tonnes of fodder (including human edible cereal grains and legumes) that is fed during the voyage, simply to keep the sheep alive, with the faecal pad washed overboard on the way back.
  
• The report talks about the importance of live exports for food security in Kuwait. Sounds good but is it? Bahrain has exactly the same food security concerns to Kuwait – a harsh environment completely unsuitable for livestock production. The key difference  is that Bahrain doesn’t have the oil revenue that Kuwait has. Bahrain switched from importing live sheep to importing chilled and frozen sheep meats long ago and has never looked back.

 So, same old industry spin, but paid for by taxpayers.