Live export: Keep the Sheep campaign’s runaway success has Labor ‘afraid’, says Liberal senator Michaelia Cash

Shell shocked Labor policymakers are asking “how much will it take to make Keep the Sheep go away”, Liberal senator Michaelia Cash claims, as the fight to save WA’s live export industry continues to gather momentum. The fired up WA senator made the comments in Perth on Wednesday at the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA’s annual convention. After several highly publicised milestones in recent weeks — including a rally that drew 2000 protesters to Parliament House in Canberra — she said the Albanese Government was running scared. “I tell you, they are afraid, because I have been told — it is not for repeating, even though we’re recording this — they’ve actually already said, ‘how much will it take to make Keep The Sheep go away?’” Senator Cash said. “In other words, it’s a problem in Western Australia. It doesn’t matter how much money you offer us; you’re not going away because you’re fighting for better policy.” The Albanese Government’s sheep shipping ban was top of the agenda at the convention, where Senator Cash was among several high-profile guest speakers. Senator Cash repeated the Coalition’s promise to bin the policy if it wins the next Federal election, saying the Liberals and Nationals were determined to ensure there was “a bright future for you, your kids and for your grandkids”. She also singled out prominent Keep The Sheep campaigners Ben Sutherland and Holly Ludeman, praising them for their tireless work. “You guys are just fantastic — you’re putting your money where your mouth is, and you took it to Canberra,” Senator Cash said. The number of signatures on Keep The Sheep’s petition to overturn the ban rocketed from about 87,000 ahead of the September 10 rally in Canberra, to more than 100,000 two days later. Earlier this week, it was announced Albany’s Railways Football and Sporting Club will be renamed Keep The Sheep Stadium in 2025 after Katanning man Alan McFarland won the naming rights in a raffle. In May hundreds of trucks and farm vehicles protested against the ban in Perth’s CBD, followed by another mass rally in Northam in July after a Bill to end the trade in mid 2028 was passed. Senator Cash also seized on cattle producers’ fears, insisting live cattle exports would be next on the chopping block — despite assurances from Labor that the industry is safe. “Take out the word sheep, and what do you get? You get an ideological hatred of the live export industry,” she said. “We all know, ultimately, where this will go.” PGA president Tony Seabrook called the ban “appalling” “This is not a trade being shut down for any other reason than political, and that’s it: it’s just political,” he said. Also speaking at the convention, Nationals senator Bridgette McKenzie said Federal Labor was “taking for granted” WA voters, who largely contributed to its landslide win at the 2022 election. “It’s with black irony that this Labor Government was prepared to dishonor their former leader in Simon Crean — supporter of the agricultural industry — with this live sheep ban,” she said. No Labor MPs attended the convention.