Submission to the Inquiry into Export Control Amendment (Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea) Bill 2024

6 min readNov 9, 2024

7 June 2024

I strongly support the long overdue phase out of Australia’s live sheep export trade. Like many other Australians, I remain shocked that this cruel trade has been allowed to continue for so long.

The current deputy leader of the federal Liberal Party, Sussan Ley, told Parliament in 2018:

The litany of animal cruelty in the live sheep trade makes a mockery of the industry’s ‘No fear, no pain’ mantra. If the rules were actually enforced… no commercial operator would undertake the trade. Exporters have explained to me that it would not be viable. Unfortunately this is an industry with an operating model built on animal suffering.[1]

Liberal MP Sarah Henderson told Parliament in 2018:

After decades of non-compliance, after decades of inhumane treatment of sheep, after decades of tolerating a trade which continues to tarnish our international reputation, Australians are saying enough is enough… The time has come. Backed by the science and the facts and the economics, this is a trade which must come to end.[2]

Liberal Party MP Jason Wood was also clear in 2018 that live export of sheep should be banned:

I’m calling for a ban on live sheep exports. This is not a knee-jerk reaction. This is something I have called for for a long time. I’ve been given assurances from the industry before that animals wouldn’t suffer. I’ve obviously been conned.[3]

Nearly forty years ago, the Senate Select Committee on Animal Welfare concluded in its 1985 report ‘Export of Live Sheep from Australia’ that “if a decision were to be made on the future of the trade purely on animal welfare grounds, there is enough evidence to stop the trade.”[4]

The report noted, “there is little doubt that sheep suffer during the journey from an Australian farm to an abbattoir in the Middle East” and that “any form of transport puts stress on livestock.”

These statements remain as true in 2024 as they were in 1985.

No amount of regulation has been able to, or can, eliminate the unacceptable suffering involved in an inherently cruel trade, or control a reckless industry that has continued to prioritise profit over the welfare of animals.

As Vets Against Live Export spokesperson, Dr Sue Foster, has noted:

What never changes is the inherent conditions on these ships: ship movement, 24h lighting and 90dB noise for 20+ days, faecal “bedding” and heat stress. Even with the changes implemented since 2018, 38/41 voyages accompanied by independent observers have reported heat stress. The ships are not air-conditioned and no amount of ventilation helps when the ambient conditions exceed a sheep’s heat stress threshold.[5]

And as RSPCA Australia says:

They’re at risk of suffering extreme heat stress, poor conditions and overcrowded stocking densities that increase discomfort, and can limit access to food and water for some animals. They’re at risk because of the unavoidable reality that live export leads to weeks of stressful circumstances for the sheep including repeated handling by unfamiliar people, standing in their own faeces and urine, unfamiliar environments with loud noises, varied ventilation, high humidity, mistreatment and inhumane slaughter practices once they disembark at their destination.[6]

Recent in-depth analysis undertaken by RSPCA Australia, focusing on data from Independent Observers over 53 live sheep export journeys carrying 2.5 million sheep between 2018 and 2023, reveals the continued routine suffering of sheep on board live export vessels. Findings include that “80 per cent of independent observer reports from recent live sheep export voyages say sheep are starving on board, and at least 60 per cent reported animals suffering with signs of heat stress.”[7]

RSPCA Australia Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Suzanne Fowler, explains:

If these problems could be fixed, they would have been fixed by now. While some improvements have been forced upon the industry by increasing regulation over time, in reality, little has changed because little can change; the issues with live export are inherent to the trade and business model, and are unfixable.

Earlier this year, Australians watched on with horror as the MV Bahijah sat off the West Australian coast in sweltering heat with thousands of sheep and cattle on board. More than four hundred sheep died during this traumatic episode that extended from January to April of this year and included not just one, but two long sea voyages.

On the first leg of the Bahijah’s journey, four cattle and 64 sheep died. On the second leg — one of the cattle and 21 sheep died. When the animals were offloaded in Western Australia between voyages, 327 sheep were euthanised.[8] Not included in these death rate figures are the levels of suffering the surviving animals would have endured throughout their journey and after arriving for slaughter in another country.

In a submission to the Independent Panel in 2023, former live export veterinarian, Lynn Simpson, said the phase-out “would reflect & recognise the overwhelming scientific, professional, community & global concern of unnecessary animal suffering as has been indisputably demonstrated, repeatedly, with decades of direct evidence & science-based studies.”[9]

In 2018, Sussan Ley told parliament:

“As live export vet Lynn Simpson remarked, I watched animals suffer and die for 57 voyages. The spectrum of their suffering differed but the true death count has never been declared. It will likely never see the light of day, like so many animals who died below the waterline on a ship in the middle of the ocean.”

While I fully support the ending of the live export trade, I hold serious concerns that the four year transition period will mean continued suffering for many thousands of sheep and that there will be a decreased focus on animal welfare during this period. For as long as this vile trade continues — and many Australians believe it should end immediately — more measures must be put in place to better protect the sheep on these voyages and to ensure a significant decrease in the number of sheep exported before the end date arrives.

The Independent Panel’s report discusses the potential for animal welfare compromises during the transition period and points to calls for enhanced regulatory oversight. The report quotes from the Law Council of Australia’s submission:

At a minimum, the Committee urges that the following identified matters of regulatory compliance and enforcement be addressed during the phase-out period: Requiring Independent Observers on all ships carrying live sheep; Publishing Independent Observer reports (without redaction, other than in relation to the identity of the Independent Observers); and taking enforcement action in respect of regulatory non-compliance.[10]

I support the Law Council of Australia’s call for observers on all ships during the transition period and for full reports to be released to the public without delay. Most live sheep export ships do not currently carry independent observers.[11] I also note the unacceptably long delays in publishing observer summary reports.

The Australian Labor Party committed to phasing out live sheep exports in 2018 while in Opposition. Polls have continued to show the overwhelming majority of Australians support a ban on this cruel industry.

It is time for Australia to show the world it is serious about moving away from this cruel trade. For the animals involved and for most Australians, the end date cannot come soon enough.[12] We should never as a society prioritise profit over the well-being of any animal, human or non-human.