LET’S support Keep the Sheep!

Keep the Sheep brought their campaign to Sheepvention recently and I was pleased to see such a high level of interest from farmers and local people at their stand.

Ben Sutherland, the spokesperson for Keep the Sheep, is formerly from the Hamilton area and understands well the importance of the sheep and wool industry to the Western District.

Keep the Sheep came to Hamilton to reinforce the message that the ban on the live sheep export trade is not just a Western Australian issue.

In the short term, the ban will depress prices in WA, but over the longer term, it will devastate the sheep industry across Australia.

This is because ending the live sheep trade reduces competition in the sheep industry, making it less viable to raise sheep in WA.

This will have a knock-on effect on the industry nationally.

The live sheep trade also provides flexibility for farmers.

If WA farmers exit the sheep trade, overall flock numbers will decrease, reducing the availability of sheep to farmers in eastern states needing to restock if there are floods or drought for example.

The live export industry has significantly reduced mortality rates to an average of 0.06 per cent.

Yet it has still been banned by the Government.

This serves as a stark warning to anyone who works in an industry disliked by activists.

Keep the Sheep also came to Sheepvention to encourage us to sign the petition against the ban.

It now has a massive 82,000 signatures and its effects are already being felt with the NSW Parliament recently commencing an inquiry into the impacts of the trade being banned.

Farmers, truckies and shearers all support the campaign.

They know if the sheep industry suffers, it’s not just farmers, but entire rural communities that will be affected – the local supermarket, small businesses and sporting teams.

This campaign is as much about people’s lives as it is about their livelihoods.

I fully support this campaign and if you do too, I encourage you to sign the petition if you haven’t already done so by going to: www.keepthesheep.com.au/petition