I AM a third-generation sheep farmer from Williams, whose family has been involved with live export since the days of wethers being shipped to Singapore, in about the 1960s.
The (live sheep export by ship phase-out) panel has heard from many people in the onshore areas of live export, but I'm pretty sure you haven't heard much from someone with my background, at these meetings.
I am a LiveCorp-accredited onboard stockman and I have sailed onboard a multitude of vessels, including Bader 3, Barkley Pearl, Diamantina, Maysora, Nada, Finola, Drover, Bison Express and the Awassi Express.
I was one of the accredited stockmen onboard the maiden voyage of the Awassi.
From the footage that was released, I observed the pen number, this number tells me the deck number and position that was filmed in relation to the ship's bow and port.
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I would like to report a few inconsistencies:
The pen location was a known reported hot spot and therefore would not have been penned with those style sheep and to that density.
The pad was inconsistent with ASEL (Australian standards for the export of live animals).
A well-maintained sheep pad is firm and dry with a density similar to that of a yoga mat.
The pad in the footage had clearly been watered, although this provides short-term relief, in the long-term it's a disaster.
From what I have seen, Australian live export is constantly improving the world standards for live export.
Even before the introduction of ASEL and ESCAS (Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System), importing countries were demanding delivery standards like ours.
I know of one exporter from another country who told me he can't wait for Australia to leave the export market so he could load more head onto boats with less feed and make more money.
On my most successful voyage I had zero mortalities.
On my worst voyage, I recorded a mortality rate of 0.8 per cent - not because of conditions onboard - but because of an aggressive and rapid spread of pneumonia.
With quick intervention by injection of the drug Draxxin, I slowed mortalities to only acute cases.
The deck crews I worked alongside are some of the hardest working men you will ever meet.
They were mostly from the Philippines and I openly spoke with them about living and working on the ships.
On board they earn a minimum three times what they could earn if they stayed in their country and the money they earn is tax free.
Their government sees it as a great source of international revenue that will be spent domestically when it is sent home to their families.
They work on average nine months on, then three months off.
They are very observant and provide 15 more sets of eyes for a stockperson, like me.
They will help me in anyway I need, even if it could be a dangerous in-pen situation.
The government the panel is reporting to prides itself on racial and sexual equality.
More than 10 years ago, when I first got into live export, there were three criteria to be an onboard stockman:
You had to be a man;
You had to be someone well-known in the industry;
You had to know someone high up in the live export industry.
These days - thanks to the unsung hard work of great, persistent, undeterred women such as Blyth Callan, Fiona Bird and Stephanie Combes - to my knowledge female stockwomen outnumber their male counterparts.
The live export industry evolved on its own with the introduction of stockwomen and multi-racial stockpeople.
Live export is still being judged for incidents that occurred many years ago.
The standards in more recent years have improved time and time again, yet the industry is still having the past held against its present and its future.
These days voyages are consistently achieving decreased mortality and increased discharge weights.
The panel is here looking for answers for a transition away from live export.
If animal liberation groups and lobbyist figures are correct the livestock industry is already transition away from live export.
If this is the case then I say let the industry run its own course.
Thanks to The Livestock Collective, the live export industry is now one of the most open-door, primary-affiliated industries.
My time aboard was enlightening, educational and eye-opening.
I encourage each of you individually to travel aboard a live export ship.
Walk the decks alongside a LiveCorp-accredited stockperson, meet with the exporting agents in destination countries, talk to the importer and see how we are all helping so many more people.
The experience is something I can't explain, I think what you will learn in a 14-day voyage will help you to draw a clear conclusion.
We need live export.
- This is a submission Simon Williamson made to the live export panel public consultation meeting at the Darkan Town Hall, on June 22. It has been edited for publication.
