00:00 The Labor government has promised to ban live exports of sheep from Australia, a promise
00:06 it's taken to the last two elections.
00:08 But in a letter that's been sent to the Prime Minister today, there's 23 farming groups
00:13 and organisations, including groups you might not consider are so relevant to the topic,
00:18 like dairy farmers and grain producers.
00:20 And they're really pleading with the Australian government to abort its decision to phase
00:24 out live sheep, saying this could jeopardise Australia's trading relationship, particularly
00:30 with countries in the Middle East, where Australia does tend to send the majority of its live
00:34 sheep exports.
00:35 So this is a bit of a last ditch effort from the industry, as the government considers
00:40 exactly how and when it will ban sheep exports by sea.
00:45 Sheep prices have taken a dive, Cath.
00:47 Why is that?
00:48 Yeah, well, this letter actually really coincides with some of the lowest prices we've seen
00:53 for sheep in Australia since 2007.
00:57 And if you look at social media, there are some angry farmers there who are suggesting
01:01 that this policy from the Australian government, albeit to phase out sheep without a deadline
01:06 on the trade, has contributed to that.
01:09 But the Agriculture Minister, Murray Watt, was asked directly about this on ABC Radio
01:14 earlier this week, and he made it clear that the downturn in prices coincides with the
01:19 largest flop that we've seen in Australia, I think since 2007.
01:22 And it's an issue of oversupply.
01:24 There are so many sheep in the marketplace that we've seen prices fall, in some cases
01:29 to below returns of less than a dollar per head per sheep for growers.
01:33 So it's certainly a very frustrating time.
01:35 But I would point out that this letter today from these 23 farming organisations didn't
01:40 actually draw on the price of sheep.
01:43 It's just that this is a significant issue that's affecting producers right around Australia
01:47 at the moment.
01:48 Kath, when will the government release its plans to phase out live sheep exports?
01:54 The government's employed an independent panel to advise it on the best way to phase out
01:58 sheep and I think essentially tell it when to set a deadline on the trade.
02:02 We know that animal rights groups would like to see the trade phased out sooner rather
02:06 than later, and have in fact suggested a date in 2026.
02:10 The independent panel was expected to report to the government today, but it's sort of
02:15 a deadline, so we're not expecting that report to go to government until next month now.
02:20 But it's very unclear as to when the government will make the recommendations of the independent
02:24 panel public.
02:25 It could be quite some time yet.
02:27 Okay, Kath Sullivan reporting from Canberra.
02:31 Thank you.
02:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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