Details on the phase-out of live sheep exports along with a $107 million transition package are set to be outlined by the federal government.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt will make the announcement in Perth and release a long-awaited report by an independent panel into the phase-out of the live sheep export trade.
The report was delivered to the minister in October for a response, and farming groups have been eagerly awaiting its release for seven months.
Industry and farmers remain opposed to any live sheep export phase-out and are concerned about whether it will extend to other industries.
“Industry has collectively argued against the government to say that this trade should not be phased out, it is reformed,” Mark Harvey-Sutton from the Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council told AAP.
“This policy is not based on evidence, it’s based on activism,” Mr Harvey-Sutton said.
The vast majority of live sheep exports are from Western Australia.
Labor pledged at the 2019 and 2022 federal elections to end the live sheep export trade.
The commitment was made to abandon the trade after 2400 sheep died of heat stress in 2017 while travelling on a ship from Australia to the Middle East.
The industry has repeatedly maintained animal welfare concerns have been addressed.
Earlier in 2024 a live-export ship, the MV Bahijah, was ordered to abandon its voyage in January due to Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea.
About 14,000 sheep and 1000 cattle spent more than five weeks on board the vessel, before being forced back to Perth. The animals were later cleared for re-export to the Middle East.
Australia’s live sheep export trade is worth an estimated $143 million, with the most recent data showing an average of nearly one million head of sheep exported annually.