Keynote Address: Live animal exports: Local and Geopolitical Importance
Author: The Hon. Andrew Robb AO
LIVEXchange 2025 Conference
As a backdrop to the next two days, which will focus more on “hands on” live animal export matters, I will focus my comments this morning on how I’ve seen the export of live cattle and sheep, and now goats, influencing Australia’s regional and global geopolitical relationships, with the emphasis on southeast Asia and the Middle East.
I am very proud of this industry, not only for more than 50 years of hugely professional development right along the supply chain from the quality of the livestock, right through the quality of the shipping services, through the world leading animal welfare practices, to the customer service.
But as an Australian I am most proud of this industry’s achievement in being the most influential and enduring “shaper” of positive views towards Australia in so many countries, particularly in Asia and the Middle East.
For most Australians the geopolitical benefit of that achievement is not understood and not appreciated, but it has been very hard won, and profound.
This achievement has been grossly underrated because for the vast majority of the 85% of Australians who live in 5 capital cities what happens in regional Australia is remote and removed from their daily lives; and this is just as true for the 85% of State and Federal politicians who live in these 5 capital cities.
Despite the opposite being true, this remoteness means that most Australians see no personal consequence from the huge economic contribution and geopolitical achievements – this leads to an absence of empathy, and an absence of political influence.
Your industry in Western Australia knows this lack of empathy and misplaced political opposition only too well.
The decision of the Australian government to ban exports of live sheep will do profound harm, not only to Western Australia, but to Australia’s long-standing influence and respect in volatile countries within our region.
The export ban is a selfish, destructive act of opportunistic politics; an act of stupidity and self-harm to WA.
I have witnessed the growth and impact of live cattle and sheep exports for over 50 years. As an agricultural economist in the late 70’s I observed the heavy-handed thuggish attempts to stop the live sheep trade because the union movement claimed it was eliminating their abattoir jobs.
The unions were outsmarted, and lost that illegal action, and history shows the unionists claims to have been totally misguided – the live sheep exports increased farmer returns, increased investment in the sheep industry, which increased flocks, which actually increased sheep and lambs going to slaughter.
In the early 80’s, I was Executive Director of the Cattle Council of Australia. I well recall the loading of cattle off the beach on the Central Coast of NSW. The industry has been massively transformed over subsequent decades to the point where in this century cattle are putting on weight during the sea voyage – as a former animal health officer early in my professional career, I can tell you stressed cattle don’t put on weight!
The industry came under major attack again when the Gillard Government illegally banned live cattle exports from Australia to Indonesia on 8th June 2011, based on one piece of highly staged video footage totally “stitched up” by activists.
This premeditated despicable action by activists, supported by the illegal ban by the Gillard Government, led to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars income in Northern Australia, endless bankruptcies, failed marriages and many suicides. It led to the forced shooting of tens of thousands of cattle.
Yet, Indonesia has long relied heavily on Australian feeder cattle to stabilise beef prices for their 286 million people, creating deep supply-chain interdependence, giving Australia a stabilising role in Indonesia’s food security.
In turn, Jakarta has seen Australia as a trusted food partner which enhances co-operation in defence maritime security, counter terrorism and regional diplomacy.
The 2011 ban created one of the most serious agricultural diplomatic rifts in Australian - Indonesian history and resulted in massive economic damage in both our countries, with years of bankrupt businesses, family breakdowns, suicides and regional mistrust.
Indonesia saw the ban as abrupt, unilateral, without consultation and unwarranted. As a result, they cut Australia’s quota, seriously reduced Australian market share from where it had been providing more than half of Indonesia’s feeder cattle imports, and increased use of Indian buffalo meat.
The diplomatic climate and trade levels did not improve materially until 2013 after a change of Government in Australia.
The incoming Abbott Government made repairing the trade relationship with Indonesia a very high priority. As a consequence, as Australia’s new Minister for Trade and Investment I spent my first week in office in Indonesia seeking to mend the trade debacle.
The issue remained red hot for the Indonesians, and it was made very clear to me Indonesia’s continued disbelief that we could inflict on our nearest neighbours, without even a phone call, such a profound impost that denied them such reliable food security support and inflicted such disruption and economic loss to so many Indonesian businesses.
I took with me Ken Warriner, a great leader of the cattle industry in Australia who I knew from my Cattle Council days, who was instrumental in the development of the trade and was deeply trusted by the meat and livestock industry in Indonesia.
Ken’s contribution and presence through a very difficult week was profound.
Even then, repair of the bi-lateral relationship took a full week of meetings involving large and very angry and sceptical representatives from the importers, the feedlots, the abattoirs, the wet markets, the transport sector, the feed producing farmers, the myriad of other retail outlets and several Government Ministers, before reaching a point where sufficient trust was restored to see trade normalised.
This was achieved while maintaining our continuing support and insistence on ESCAS (The Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System), as a critical measure in ensuring community support, healthy sheep and stability for importers and exporters alike.
During my time as Trade and Investment Minister my Middle East engagement with Kuwait, Jordan, Israel and UAE countries brought home to me the reliance of their countries on Australia’s live sheep and goats for cultural, religious and seasonal reasons, especially during Ramadan and Eid.
This has created enduring diplomatic goodwill and has positioned Australia as a trusted agricultural partner more broadly in the region which is marked by great-power competition.
Australia is identified as a reliable partner in ensuring the success and enjoyment of hugely important cultural and religious events; our trade is seen as a longstanding symbol of mutual respect.
These invaluable relationships have been put under real threat by the ignorant banning of the live sheep trade by the Australian Government.
Furthermore, Australian consistency as a livestock supplier helps regional partners manage inflation, shortages and local production volatility. This fosters long-term stability and strengthens Australia’s geopolitical standing.
The Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) encourages animal welfare and traceability standards overseas.
Off the back of live sheep and cattle exports, Australia has been solely responsible for introducing effective and much appreciated animal welfare practices across the Middle East and Southeast Asian countries. All Australians should be very proud of this remarkable achievement in influencing the welfare treatment of all animals across those many countries.
This has greatly enhanced Australia’s soft-power influence and increases governance convergence with partner countries.
As China expands influence in Southeast Asia through agricultural, infrastructure and financing channels, Australia’s livestock supply chains remain an important counterweight. They anchor Australia in regional economic systems that might otherwise tilt towards China.
In other words, Australia’s live-export relationships open doors for cooperation in defence, maritime security, trade access, standards harmonisation and people-to-people ties.
As Asia opens up to the world, fostering growth and prosperity food security is becoming as important as energy security.
Australia’s predictable live-animal supply helps Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and other nations buffer against local productions falls, and increased demand for protein.
Countries view Australia as stable, rule-based, ethically regulated (through the ESCAS welfare system) and politically safe.
This strengthens Australia’s soft-power footprint in the world.
Our live-animal export relationships underpin:
negotiation leverage in trade agreements
trade diversification
dialogue channels for agriculture, veterinary standards, quarantine and logistics infrastructure
opportunities for Australian companies to invest in overseas feedlots, abattoirs, cold chains and logistics
energy co-operation
defence procurements, and
counter-terrorism partnerships.
In this increasingly divided and uncertain world we must do all we can to maintain strong long-standing relationships, in both our region and with the volatile Middle East, not alienate them and undermine mutual trust and respect by destroying Australia’s live-animal trade for crass, misplaced political reasons.
At this stage of my life I find myself again directly involved with the live-animal export industry as a Trustee of the Australian Farmers Fighting Fund (AFFF) – a fund I set up as the National Farmers Federation (NFF) CEO, with then NFF President, Ian McLachlan, in the 1980’s after the Mudginberri cattle industry dispute, where we raised $11m to successfully defeat in the Courts, the illegal action of the Australian Meat Industry Employees Union.
The AFFF has led the class action against the Federal Labor Government which illegally banned the export of live cattle and caused the enormous economic and social disruption with bankruptcies, broken marriages and suicides mentioned earlier.
The case has been deeply frustrating with callous disregard for suffering beyond belief. Despite governments generally expected to be model litigants this case has been deliberately forced into endless delays with actions such as 22 discoveries (when big class actions would normally see 3 to 5 discoveries) resulting in the case being in its 13th year. We actually won the court decision 3 years ago, yet the Federal Labor Government has again supported bluster and delays by their lawyers regarding the level of compensations.
It again highlights the problem of those living and working in communities remote from the 85% of the population, and the 85% of our politicians also living in 5 capital cities – another case of “out of sight, out of mind”, with no perceived personal consequence for urban Australia, despite the huge economic and geopolitical impact of the live animal export trade which has a significant positive consequence for every Australian.
Ladies and gentlemen, as an industry you need to fight the continuing agenda of noisy activists, and weak government. They won’t be happy until the whole trade is gone, so they can move onto seriously disrupting and minimising our domestic sheep, cattle and goat industries.
Take nothing for granted, especially the weasel words of government assurances. You have so much to be proud of, so much more potential to grow and help the food security and quality of life of tens of millions of people in our region and the Middle East, with strong geopolitical influence for Australia as a consequence and added benefit.
There is no choice but to fight - get angry, find every opportunity to demand respect and political support for stability and a sense of certainty so critical for the long-term investment necessary to sustain and grow the industry. Start by getting legislation banning live sheep exports in Western Australia, rescinded. And, as you fight make sure you progressively educate our urban population to the significant, positive personal consequence for each of them flowing from the success and stability of our outstanding live-animal export industry.
Thank you.