The export of live sheep by sea from Australia will be banned from May 2028, with a $107 million transition package to support the industry over the next five years.
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Legislation for the phase-out will be enacted in this term of parliament.
"This is a comprehensive package that will assist to strengthen supply chains, develop market opportunities and improve animal welfare," Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said on Saturday.
Senator Watt made the announcement at a media conference in Perth on Saturday and said it would provide certainty to the industry.
But the announcement to phase out the multimillion dollar trade over the next four years has enraged industry and farming groups.
"I want to emphasise that industry will be continuing to fight this and the live export industry will be standing beside Western Australian producers all the way," Mark Harvey-Sutton from the Australian Livestock Exporters' Council told AAP.
The date was one of 28 recommendations in a report made by an independent panel into the phase-out. That report which was delivered to the government last October, was also released on Saturday.
More than half of the transition package money will be used to assist sheep producers and the supply chain, particularly in Western Australia, to build on existing and emerging opportunities.
Some money will also be spent on a transition advocate to help with communication between industry and the government on the phase out.
"This is a comprehensive package that will assist to strengthen supply chains, develop market opportunities and improve animal welfare," Senator Watt said.
But industry and farmers are furious about the four-year timeline and remain concerned about whether the ban will extend to other industries.
"Industry has collectively argued against the government to say that this trade should not be phased out, it is reformed," Mark Harvey-Sutton from the Australian Livestock Exporters' Council told AAP.
"This policy is not based on evidence, it's based on activism," Mr Harvey-Sutton said.
The vast majority of live sheep exports are from Western Australia.
Labor pledged at the 2019 and 2022 federal elections to end the live sheep export trade.
The commitment was made to abandon the trade after 2400 sheep died of heat stress in 2017 while travelling on a ship from Australia to the Middle East.
The industry has repeatedly maintained animal welfare concerns have been addressed.
Earlier in 2024 a live-export ship, the MV Bahijah, was ordered to abandon its voyage in January due to Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea.
About 14,000 sheep and 1000 cattle spent more than five weeks on board the vessel, before being forced back to Perth.
The animals were later cleared for re-export to the Middle East.
The live sheep export industry has been contracting for many years.
Government figures show its worth has declined from $415 million in 2002-03 to $77 million in 2022-23.
The industry has put the value of the live sheep export trade at an estimated $143 million a year.
Australian Associated Press
