Manjimup farmer and WA Nationals candidate concerned regional WA will be “crippled” by live sheep export ban

The WA Nationals candidate for Warren-Blackwood believes the end of live sheep exports will cripple farmers and communities. The Federal Government’s Bill to end the trade by sea in May 2028 was passed by the Senate on Monday night. Manjimup farmer and Nationals candidate Bevan Eatts said sheep farmers would exit the industry before the 2028 cut-off rather than wait for the ban to be implemented. “Where are we going to offload our ewes in four years’ time if there’s no live export market?” he said. “If you’re going to end up with a loss and not be able to sell them, it makes you start thinking about exiting sheep market completely. “We’ll see producers exiting the industry, which then makes the economic model for abattoirs more difficult. Mr Eatts highlighted the potential for the New Zealand Government to lift their live export ban, which came into effect in April last year. “They have obviously seen a window of opportunity for their country now we’re going to close — it’s nothing short of absolute stupidity,” he said. Mr Eatts said the issue with processing onshore and sending the packaged meat product overseas is “the market wants what the market wants”. “The reality is the industry would have transitioned into processing if the returns were there and the markets were there,” he said. “They generally want live sheep for a reason. “It’s always extremely hard to sell to someone a product they don’t want.” Mr Eatts said Australia has “really raised the bar on how to handle sheep in the best humane way possible” in response to the concerns about the welfare of sheep on boats. The Nationals candidate is a fourth-generation farmer, with his grandfather moving to Manjimup in 1947 following the end of the Second World War. Mr Eatts said as income and businesses are affected in rural and regional WA from the live sheep export ban, farming families will begin to leave and communities will fade away. “People have to follow where the work is and they move out of regional WA,” he said. Mr Eatts said as workers leave towns due to a lack of jobs, teachers and nurses move too, and although people in regional WA can adapt, the live sheep export trade is a “good sustainable industry”.