THE conversion of Middle Eastern markets to accept imported chilled meat products cannot be rushed and will be a generational change.
Speaking on the live export issue in State Parliament last week, The Liberals WA member for the South West, Steve Thomas said while he was hopeful the next generation in Middle Eastern markets would be more accepting of imported chilled meat products, the transition would require "years and decades".
Mr Thomas said the Federal government's proposal to phase out live export did not leave time to encourage or develop that change and would instead kill the State's sheep industry before the change could occur.
"This government has a bit of an issue in that it likes to manipulate outcomes rather than necessarily allowing the market to develop and ripen at its own rate," Mr Thomas said.
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"Instead of allowing the marketplace to develop in the time frame that is deliverable, it is determined to change the time frame to suit its own agenda, which as far as I can tell is purely a political and an electoral one."
He said the government had engaged in a "terrible process", designed to appeal to a largely metropolitan marketplace for votes.
"It is not designed for an animal welfare outcome...It will simply shift the problem," he said.
Highlighting the Federal government's system to help Indonesian abattoirs raise their animal welfare standards in the cattle market, Mr Thomas said Australia's foreign aid budget could also be used to look at more suitable processing options for the nations agricultural trading partners in the Middle East.
While the number of live sheep exports from Australia have decreased in recent years, the number being exported from Europe have grown, with more than half of the top 10 international live sheep exporting nations originating from Romania, Spain, France, Portugal and Hungary.
The Liberals WA member for the Agricultural Region Steve Martin said in Parliament it was concerning that the European Union had no control system in place for transporting animals to non-EU countries.
"The well-regulated Australian market is the best in the world at doing this," Mr Martin said.
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"We are handing our trade to a European system that has no controls at all in place."
Australia has the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) in place for the slaughtering and handling of animals in other countries, designed to ensure good animal welfare outcomes across the supply chain.
The Nationals WA member for the agricultural Region Colin De Grussa said he was also concerned if Australia was not part of the live sheep trade and market that animal welfare outcomes across the world would decline.
"I think that we need to be part of the solution," Mr De Grussa said.
"Being part of the solution means, to me, making sure that we still are exporting animals to those markets and ensuring that we participate in the entire supply chain.
"The industry worked hard to adopt those changes."
