Australia will ban the live export of sheep by sea from May 2028 following a series of disastrous headlines involving livestock carriers.
Livestock numbers by sea from Australia have been on a steady decline for many years. Data from Canberra shows Australia exported approximately 652,000 sheep by sea in 2022-23, compared to 5.92m sheep 20 years ago.
The decision by the government to cease all livestock shipments by sea is expected to face considerable opposition.
“We will not rest until this misguided policy is overturned,” said Tony Mahar, the CEO of the National Farmers’ Federation. “Today’s announcement just sentences foreign sheep to the practices we banned a decade ago.”
The Bahijah livestock carrier made many headlines earlier this year over a decision to bring it – and the 16,000 animals onboard -back to Australia and then reroute it via the Cape of Good Hope.
Last year, it was reported on a fire on a livestock carrier off Australia, engine failure on another vessel off Darwin, as well as the auctioning of a Chinese livestock carrier in Sydney over unpaid bills.