Australia’s Live Export Markets
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Australia is the world's largest live exporter of animals for slaughter. The trade involved over three million animals in 2011 valued at approximately A$1 billion, of which the majority were cattle and sheep. However, the live export trade only accounts for 0.4% of all Australian exports, . Australia exports live cattle, sheep, goats, dairy cows, buffalo, and alpacas. The export of live animals from Australia has generated some controversy, with
animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
organisations such as
Animals Australia Animals Australia is an Australian animal protection organisation. Its aim is to investigate and expose animal cruelty, inspire kindness to animals through public awareness campaigns—particularly focused on farmed animals—and provide funding ...
asking it to be banned on the grounds that certain countries where animals are shipped have no laws to protect them from cruelty. In 2011, the Gillard government briefly suspended the trade and came close to a ban. Exports have since resumed. The
Albanese government The Albanese government is the current federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Labor Party. The Albanese government was sworn in on 23 May 2022 by the Governor-General of Australia, David Hurl ...
is planning to phase out the live
sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
trade. Australia will stop exporting live sheep from 1 May 2028. The
National Farmers' Federation The National Farmers' Federation (NFF) is an Australian non-profit membershipbased organisation that represents farmers and the agricultural sector in Australia. The NFF has been a key player in a number of industrial relations disputes, includ ...
is opposed to the ban claiming it will damage diplomatic relationships. The industry is regulated under the ''Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997'' and the ''Export Control (Animals) Order 2004''. Since 1985 at least ten government and parliamentary reviews have investigated live exports and its associated animal welfare issues. The first shipments of live sheep were exported from Western Australia to Mauritius and Singapore from 1845.


Exports

Australia exports live animals to many countries, including
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
,
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
,
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
,
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
,
Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
,
Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
,
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
,
Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
,
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
,
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. A number of ships, mostly converted container ships, move animals from Australia to these countries. Saudi Arabia was historically Australia's largest market for sheep, however it stopped the export due to Australia strict export regulations. 575,000 sheep were exported in 2021, down from a figure of two million in 2017. Indonesia is Australia's largest market for live cattle. Exports leave via ports at Darwin, Broome, Townsville, Portland and Perth (Freemantle). The loading of stock can take several days. Stocking densities allocate 0.38 metres squared per sheep which means they cannot lay down or easily access food and water. To ensure
animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
was maintained observers were deployed to all live export ships. Observers were introduced in April 2018. They monitor
heat stress Hyperthermia, also known as overheating, is a condition in which an individual's body temperature is elevated beyond normal due to failed thermoregulation. The person's body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates. When extreme temp ...
and animal deaths. Observers produce reports on deaths and conditions that are supposed to be published regularly. This program was wound back in 2019 and then halted during the
covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Observers started monitoring again in May 2022.


Threats

The live export industry is threatened by
lumpy skin disease Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an infectious disease in cattle caused by Lumpy skin disease virus of the family ''Poxviridae'', also known as Neethling virus. The disease is characterized by fever, enlarged superficial lymph nodes, and multiple nod ...
. If the disease was found in Australian livestock all exports of live cattle, meat and dairy would be halted. In 2023, Lumpy skin disease was detected in Indonesia in cattle that originated from Australia. Indonesian authorities removed market access for further livestock imports into Indonesia until Australian authorities proved that the cattle had not been infected in Australia and that the source of the disease was actually in Indonesia.


Statistics

In 2011, the
Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is an List of Australian Government entities, Australian Government agency that collects and analyses statistics on economic, population, Natural environment, environmental, and social issues to advi ...
estimated that: * 2,458,448 sheep were exported from Australia, worth $328 million * 694,429 cattle were exported, worth $629.4 million * 63,663 goats were exported, worth $8.5 million According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, exports of live sheep rose 21.4% and live calves increased 9.7% between March 2017 and March 2018. During 2017 alone, Australia exported 2.85 million living animals in
shipping container A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated box design, corrugated b ...
s and airplanes. Live exports of sheep peaked at 7,101,300 in 1988. Government reporting indicates that 1.289 million livestock were exported in 2023/2024; including 746,829 cattle and 519,531 sheep.


Animal rights controversy

In March 2011,
Animals Australia Animals Australia is an Australian animal protection organisation. Its aim is to investigate and expose animal cruelty, inspire kindness to animals through public awareness campaigns—particularly focused on farmed animals—and provide funding ...
conducted an investigation of the treatment of exported Australian cattle in Indonesia. The investigation revealed animals had their throats cut while fully conscious and remained conscious for more than 30 seconds after the initial throat cut. This sparked mass protests across Australia calling for the live export trade to be banned.
RSPCA Australia RSPCA Australia (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is an Australian peak organisation established in 1981 to promote animal welfare. Each state and territory of Australia has an RSPCA organisation that predates and is ...
supported a ban. The sudden decision taking immediate effect by then Agriculture Minister
Joe Ludwig Joseph William Ludwig (born 21 July 1959) is an Australian barrister and retired politician. He was a member of the Australian Senate for the state of Queensland from July 1999 to May 2016, representing the Australian Labor Party. Ludwig served ...
in May 2011 to ban live animal exports in response to the negative media coverage resulted in significant disruption to the livestock supply chain across northern Australia. In July 2017, a group of cattle
farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...
s sued the Australian Government for $600 million in compensation, arguing that the decision to suspend live cattle exports was "irrational, disproportionate and unjustified". In June 2020, a Federal Court ruled in favour of the group of cattle farmers. In delivering his judgement, Justice Rares said the ban order was "capricious" and "unreasonable." In September 2012, 20,000 sheep were killed when a shipload of animals, rejected by Bahrain due to disease claims were offloaded into Pakistan. The mass slaughter was featured in a
Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...
program called "Another Bloody Business". In April 2018, Australian current affairs program,
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
, revealed the suffering of sheep on Australian live export ships in an exposé called "Sheep, Ships and Videotape." For years, exporters had assured the Australian public the safety and well-being of the sheep was their priority. Because cameras were not allowed on board, this was taken as true — until a Pakistani crew-member turned
whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...
documented the daily horrors onboard export ships, of sheep dehydrating, being crushed and even cooking alive during voyages to the Middle Eastern summer. The evidence of routine, extreme animal cruelty was so horrific that Federal Minister for Agriculture,
David Littleproud David Kelly Littleproud (born 4 September 1976) is an Australian politician who has been the leader of the National Party since May 2022. He has represented the regional Queensland seat of Maranoa since the 2016 federal election and was a cab ...
, called "bullshit" and described how the footage left him "shocked and gutted". A range of reforms to live exports emerged after outrage was generated by the report. One reform was the establishment of an Inspector-General of Live Animal Exports to oversee regulation from the
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources The Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources was a government department that existed between 2015 and 2019, which was responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs that contribute to strengthening ...
. The move to ban live sheep exports in 2028 was welcomed by animal rights groups.


See also

*
Agriculture in Australia Although Australia is mostly arid, the nation is a major agricultural producer and exporter, with around 421,000 people employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing as of 2023. Agriculture's farm gate output was $100 billion a year for a 5.7% ...
*
Animal welfare and rights in Australia This article is about the treatment of and laws concerning non-human animals in Australia. Australia has moderate animal protections by international standards. National legislation There is little national animal welfare legislation in Aust ...


References

{{Reflist Livestock in Australia Animal welfare and rights in Australia