Sheep farmers in Western Australia have been told by the Federal Labor government that it will shut down the live export trade of sheep from WA to the Middle East during the next term of government and that a major part of that decision is that we have lost our social licence to continue the trade.
Whatever social licence means.
The following is my discovery of what social licence means to us.
For more than 50 years, Australia has been exporting live sheep to Middle Eastern countries to provide the people with protein and to comply with their religious Halal beliefs of slaughter.
Many of the animals were destined for remote desert nomadic communities who didn't have the luxury of refrigeration to store chilled meat.
History has recorded the impact of the sudden closure of the live cattle trade with Indonesia in 2011.
Hundreds of Indonesians lost their jobs at destination feedlots, and at the small village destinations where the cattle were individually slaughtered and the cuts sold in the village square.
The poorest people who could only afford the bones that were left were deprived of the protein contained to use in the soup prepared for their families.
This live trade added another tool to our farming practice whereby we could offload excess stock into a market that wanted a product that was unsuitable for our domestic market due to the age of the stock which were kept on for wool production.
As domestic consumption of sheep meat in the more populace eastern States increased over time, the live trade migrated back to being a WA trade only.
In recent years, animal activists have pressured the trade to ensure that the animals were shipped in a stress-free manner - which included adequate space, feed and water during the voyage.
The industry responded to those concerns with livestock ships being refitted to accommodate and even to the point of suspending the trade during the Northern Hemisphere summer period.
The inclusion of on-board veterinary staff was introduced to monitor the health of the stock in transit and to record any deaths during the voyage.
The death rate on these modern livestock vessels is now about 0.03 per cent, which is lower than on-farm natural death rates.
There is a bigger picture to the suspension of the live trade and that is the export value of the most sought-after wool in the world and that wool is the most renewable fibre commodity in a climate of sustainability, which is what the world wants going forward.
Export income provides the Australian people with the hospitals, schools and many other ancillary services required by a modern society.
The multiplier affect of closing down the industry will be immeasurable - with the loss of jobs on farms and in small rural towns, the shearing and wool marketing industry, the transport industry, the insurance industry, the veterinary supply industry, the livestock feed industry and many other supply chain providers.
But the most tragic affect will be the loss of some children from small rural schools which can mean the loss of a teacher, and in some cases leading to poorer education opportunities for the remaining children and extended travel times if small schools close.
Local sporting clubs will be affected, with fewer numbers available to form a team for the weekend family sporting competitions - which includes all ages and gender.
We are already having to play AFL football with 16 per side for those who want a game of footy on a Saturday or Sunday.
These local sporting associations are the social interaction facility for people of all ages to get together and communicate, which is the best mental health treatment available.
We simply do not have the abattoir killing space to accommodate any extra sheep numbers and the threat of losing the trade is already having an impact, with mixed farming enterprises winding back flock numbers and transport companies selling livestock trailers etc.
Having said all of that, here is your social licence.
Your country thanks and congratulates you for your efforts, often in extremely difficult circumstances, for providing export income - not only for yourselves, but for the wider Australian population to enjoy the services for which they require.
You have accommodated the concerns raised about animal health and welfare in the form of ESCAS protocols and you have provided a source of much-needed protein in a world that increasingly needs reliable food sources.
You have enabled sustainable reciprocal trade with your overseas clients, which is beneficial to all of your country.
You have enabled the employment of countless Australians who provide the services required by just going about your business.
Finally, you have not interfered in other Australians' lives or occupations as you have been subjected to by animal activists and other misled citizens of Australia.
