New ag minister promises ‘smooth’ transition away from live export after Watt leaves tight-lipped
Tasmanian MP Julie Collins will be overseeing Labor’s controversial plan to ban WA’s live sheep export industry after taking over the federal agriculture portfolio from Murray Watt this week.
In his final days as Agriculture Minister, Senator Watt remained tight-lipped about the current state of the transition, and what has been done to consult a frustrated industry.
When Countryman questioned Senator Watt last week on who the delivery partners and stakeholders were — and if any consultation was under way — he provided no response.
Countryman reached out to Mr Watt on Wednesday with a Friday deadline. Unfortunately, he did not respond.
In a statement to Countryman on Tuesday, Ms Collins said she would help implement the phase-out in a “consultative and orderly manner”.
“The legislation has passed the parliament, and I’ll be working to ensure a smooth rollout,” she said.
Camera IconTasmanian MP Julie Collins is the new Federal Agriculture Minister. Credit: Daniel Wilkins/The West Australian
“Over the next days and weeks, I’ll be meeting with the department, industry stakeholders and farmers to get across all the big issues in the portfolio. I look forward to engaging with this vital sector.”
In previous correspondence with Senator Watt’s office, a government spokesperson told Countryman details on transition support programs, including the Transition Advocate, would be available “following consultation with relevant delivery partners and stakeholders”.
The Transition Advocate would have the responsibility of monitoring transition initiatives, identifying gaps in support, and providing advice to the Government on how best to handle the transition, as recommended by the Labor’s independent consultation panel.
In its report, the consultation panel pegged farming business planning, market opportunities, and processing and cold storage infrastructure as the most important areas for the Government to address in the first half of 2024.
The panel said this early action would provide sheep producers with confidence in the industry’s ability to pivot to a boxed meat trade within four years, and would prevent a dramatic contraction in the State’s flock size.
However, as 2024 comes into its eighth month, there has been no further details on the $107 million support package first announced in May.
In between the Bill’s legislation and the agriculture portfolio undergoing a switch of hands, Meat and Livestock Australia has since released its latest Sheep Producers Intentions Survey, which showed a strong sentiment to reduce breeding ewes in WA.
WA’s wether flock is forecast to drop by 49 per cent from 1.54 million this year to about 787,000 in 2025.
MLA noted government policy was not the only cause for these numbers — market prices and poor seasonal conditions also played a role.
Prominent agricultural market analyst Matt Dalgleish said farmers could not see markets opening up, and were planning to reduce their risk exposure by cutting back their flock — a situation he called “the cruellest of ironies”.
Since the announcement in May, Mr Watt insisted value adding and leveraging onshore meat processing would help WA’s sheep industry pursue a future in the boxed meat trade, and that enhancing demand for sheep products would be a “key component” in the transition plan.
Camera IconAgriculture market analyst and Episode Three founder Matt Dalgleish said the Government needs a “clear, structured plan” for building market opportunities if confidence is to be fostered in the WA sheep industry. Credit: Adam Poulsen/Countryman/RegionalHUB
However, Mr Dalgleish said he did not understand why the Government would “artificially cram” an industry pivot from live trade to boxed meat in the span of four years.
He referred to the eastern states industry, which he said naturally transitioned from live exports to boxed meat as the sheep flock changed to focus less on wool, and more on meat sheep.
“That was a 15-year process where the market slowly adjusted to what it is now,” Mr Dalgleish said.
When contacted by Countryman, Mr Watt failed to answer if the Government would consider pushing back the May 2028 deadline if a stocktake showed the industry was not ready to make the transition.
“THERE IS NO PLAN”
Australian Live Exporters’ Council CEO Mark Harvey-Sutton said the export industry had not been approached by the Government for consultation on transition plans.
“(That) points, to me, to the fact that there is no plan, which we’ve known all along,” he said.
“I think the Government is grappling with the inadequacy of what they have put forward.”
Camera IconALEC CEO Mark Harvey-Sutton speaking at Muchea. Credit: Olivia Ford/RegionalHUB
Mr Harvey-Sutton said the Government was “all at sea” with the transition and maintained ALEC would fight ban, which is set to take effect in May 2028 after legislation passed the Senate on July 1.
“We have repeatedly told the Government about the damage the live sheep ban would do, particularly farmers in Western Australia,” he said.
The Coalition has vowed to reinstate live sheep exports if it wins the upcoming Federal election.
During an enquiry into the ban by the House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Agriculture, peak farming bodies were left frustrated when committee chair Meryl Swanson asked what information they had provided to their members on available assistance.
Two months after the inquiry finished, peak bodies say they have not had any correspondence with the agriculture department, despite the confusion expressed during both public hearings.
“As we clearly articulated at the time, it was not our job to sell Labor’s bad policy and inadequate funding package,” WoolProducers Australia CEO Jo Hall told Countryman this week.
Camera IconWoolProducers Australia chief executive officer Jo Hall. Credit: WoolProducers Australia/WoolProducers Australia
“Since then, despite the legislation to ban the trade having passed Parliament, we have been offered no opportunity to discuss what this may look like with government and no further detail of what they are thinking”.
When Countryman enquired about what information peak bodies had failed to relay to farmers, Mr Watt did not respond.
“It is unsurprising that such an ill-conceived policy decision is being underpinned by a chaotic and lacking transition package,” Ms Hall said.
“Time is ticking towards the government-imposed ban date and again this government continues to demonstrate its incompetence, lack of diligence and duty of care to an industry it is in the process of decimating.”
#minister #promises #smooth #transition #live #export #Watt #leaves #tightlipped