NATIONAL Farmer Rally speakers today protested at the influence of animal activism in Federal Government decisions, as the Australian Alliance for Animals urged the sheep industry to not blame animal welfare advocates for its woes.

Speakers from the National Farmers Federation, the Coalition, Keep the Sheep, Livestock SA and others highlighted the influence of animal activism in the Federal Government’s decision to ban live sheep exports by sea at the rally in Canberra today.

No farmers, no food – NFF

NFF president David Jochinke said he with other NFF representatives met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese before the rally and made it very clear that the NFF would not roll over on the the government’s banning of live sheep exports from May 2028.

“It is here, we support it (the trade), we understand that they have different opinions, but they are not our opinions.

“We also made it very clear that any policy that they develop, and when I say ‘they’ I mean these people in the house behind us, need to have their key stakeholder … and you know who that is, us … we need to be at the table,” he said.

“That is where we are going to get outcomes from, because like or national anthem says ‘Advance Australia Fair’, is exactly what we want; we want to progress this nation, but we want a fair go.”

“However, our concerns are this, there are alternative voice that are setting the agenda, there are alternative voice that are united against us, and we don’t think that they’re the ones that should be setting the policy, because we are the interface between the environment and the consumers,” he said.

“The reality is we stand between starvation and the prosperity of this nation.

“Bad ideas that are created from activist ideologies and that aren’t founded in farmers and fact will always be bad … and those voices and loud, they are well-resourced and they have deep pockets,” Mr Jochinke said.

“Do not be under any assumption or conclusion that everything stops here; we need to keep united, we need to keep pushing our voice first, because no one else will.

“It’s those who show up who have their voices heard, so we must be loud.”

Mr Jochinke said the Albanese Government is coming up for a “job interview” next year – the next federal election – and he said the industry must hold the government accountable “to what we need, but not only that, but what the nation needs.”

“And to do that we need to talk to the general public, we need them to know that without us, the country is stuffed.

“So there is a very simple thing that we have to say – ‘no farmers, no food….”

Dutton urges Albanese to admit live sheep export ‘mistake’

 

Defending the Western Australian sheep industry in support of the live sheep export trade, Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton said the Prime Minister should revisit his decision not to attend the rally “to come down and say to you that the Albanese Government has made a terrible mistake.”

“Answer this Prime Minister, why would you forsake, why would you say to the farmers of Western Australia that you have no future?”

Mr Dutton said everyone in Australia should understand that there is a human cost to the decision to end live sheep exports by sea.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said once in government, his first action would be to repeal the live sheep export ban out of Western Australia.

“The first international trip I take goes to Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to show them the respect that we should show our great international trading partners, that we will give them the food security that they deserve and we will trust them with the best product in the world coming from Western Australia.”

Mr Littleproud said the Prime Minister says he has made 23 trips to Western Australia, “not once has he turned up at Katanning to face up to those livelihoods that he is prepared to rip away.”

WAFarmers president John Hassell said animal activists want all animal exploitation stopped. He said the Keep the Sheep movement began with the legislation to ban the live sheep trade.

“The legislation was based on innuendo, activism, emotion and a filthy little deal with preference to the Animal Justice Party in order to keep Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek in a seat, it was not based on science, it was not based on evidence.”

Livestock SA vice president Allan Piggott said the rally is not just about live sheep exports and or Western Australia, but it is about politicians making poor decisions not based on science and evidence.

“We can’t have politicians kowtowing to the people who don’t really matter.”

He said the industry needed to make sure politicians receive the information that enables them to make decisions based on science rather than ideology.

WoolProducers leader lauds ‘activist’ father Ron

WoolProducers Australia chief executive officer Jo Hall said her father Ron was at the rally and had become an ‘activist’ two days short of turning 81.

“While it has taken 81 years, Ronnie, like all of you became an activist, and the reason he has become an activist is because he is becoming increasingly worried about the bureaucratic red tape and draconian legislation that people in agriculture are facing.

“My family has been producing on the same piece of land since 1864 and the only way that we have managed to do that is that we have looked after our people, our land our water and our animals,” she said.

“If we had not done that, we would have been out of farming generations ago.”

Ms Hall said during the 160 years her family had worked the land it managed external factors such as floods, fires, drought and volatile commodity prices.

“We have also worked within the law of the day, but what we haven’t need and don’t need going forward, is government interfering in our day-to-day operations, particularly when government are increasingly being influenced by those who have anti-farming agendas.

“But there is another reason that Ronnie is here today, and that’s because his 30 year-old grandson, my nephew Dan, is also in the crowd.

“Dan is a potato grower and prime lamb producer and Ronnie knows, as you all do, that Dan’s generation and future generations, should not have to deal with the ideological burden of an out-of-touch government setting legislation that is incompatible with farming practices,” she said.

“Policies and legislation that are set today will have ramifications for years to come and that is why we all need to push back.”

Ms Hall expressed disappointment that the industry’s efforts to work with government, in public consultations and in the media has been falling on deaf ears.

“We are here today because we are frustrated; we are here to raise our concerns about an increasing trend of anti-farming activists having a disproportionate say in how we do our business.

“Basically, we are employing activist tactics in the hope of being listened to, just like those other activists who want to shut us down who seem to be important,” she said.

“We are here to appeal to those decision makers to at the very least work with us and not against us when it comes to making decisions that directly impact us.

“At the end of the day, industry, government and the community all have the same goal and that is for us to look after our natural and human resources and to care for our animals, so that we can continue to do what we do best, which is to produce world-leading food and fibre,” Ms Hall said.

“We know that we can uphold our end of the bargain, but we are starting to lose faith in government and in parliamentarians keeping their end of the deal.

“Governments seem to be listening to those with non-industry experience and in some cases those who want to shut us down completely,” she said.

“Not only do we have to have a seat at the table to have our voices heard, but we must have a guarantee from government that our expertise and our lived experience is weighted more highly than those who don’t know one end of the sheep from the other – surely that is not too much to ask.”

Don’t shoot the messenger – AAA

AAA policy director Dr Jed Goodfellow said in a statement that instead of ‘shooting the messenger’ and blaming animal welfare advocates for their woes, the sheep industry would do better focusing on meeting community expectations to create a more sustainable future.

Dr Goodfellow said “rallying in support of a cruel and marginal trade is unlikely to engender a lot of sympathy from the community.”

“There’s a reason over 70 percent of Australians support the phase out of live sheep exports – they’re sick of seeing the suffering it causes and they know there’s a better way.

“Even in regional areas where the trade takes place, support for the phase out is high with 69pc of rural Western Australians backing the federal government’s plans,” he said.

“The trade makes up less than 2pc of Australia’s sheep meat exports, it damages our international reputation, and more sustainable, higher value alternatives exist.”

Dr Goodfellow said processing sheep here on Australian shores creates more jobs and value-adding opportunities for local supply chains while ensuring animal welfare standards are upheld.

“Sending sheep live on boats into some of the hottest places on earth only to be slaughtered without stunning is cruel and unnecessary, and no amount of rallying is going to change that reality.

“This is why the phase out legislation, including the $107 million industry adjustment package, received widespread parliamentary support,” he said.

“It is also why many farmers do not support the trade and would prefer to see the industry move forward and focus on making sure the transition is as smooth as possible.

“The ($107 million) package is fair and reasonable, giving the industry time to adjust while opening up new investment opportunities to diversify production systems.”