‘If it’s not our sheep or cattle it will be someone else’s,’ says David Littleproud, who wants regulation, not a ban

Australian opponents of the live sheep trade need to reflect on their “moral compass” because if the local trade is ultimately banned, animals from other countries will be exported to the Middle East with fewer safeguards, according to the agriculture minister, David Littleproud.

Addressing rising public opposition to the live sheep trade after a string of scandals, Littleproud has declared “metropolitan Australia has lost its connection with the bush”.

In an interview with Guardian Australia, the Queensland National said city dwellers “don’t understand the production systems and the practicalities of how farming takes place and the ethical behaviour that our farmers undertake to produce the best food and fibre in the world. It’s their pride and joy.”

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Taking aim at political critics of the industry, including some of his Liberal colleagues, who favour banning the trade after a phase out, the agriculture minister said: “People need to understand the realities of the world.

“If it’s not our sheep and our cattle going to the Middle East, it will be another nation’s sheep and cattle, that doesn’t have the standards we do, and you know what, if we think we can bury our head in the pillow and close our eyes and think it’s all over – well I ask about the moral compass of those people because there will be animals that suffer.”

Littleproud said while he respected differing views on the subject, he needed to press ahead with legislation imposing tougher regulations on the Australian industry – legislation the government pulled during the last parliamentary sitting week because of concern about its own MPs crossing the floor.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest David Littleproud in the press gallery at Parliament House in Canberra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

He accused Labor of playing politics on the issue.

“I need to have a framework that creates a culture in an industry where I have a regulator that is able to prosecute quickly and swiftly and be able to go all the way through to the company directors,” the agriculture minister said.

“We need to make sure the culture flows through not just from a regulator but also from a company perspective, that they know that the penalties that will be imposed will reach right into them, so it’s in their interests to create the right culture within their own company at the grassroots level.”

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“We can always do better and I’m going to strive to do better. This is above politics and I’m reaching out to every side to say let’s be practical about this.”

“The reality is the live trade is still there and will continue to be there. We have a responsibility to stay and get it right.”

Asked whether the trade was now one headline-grabbing scandal short of complete collapse, Littleproud said: “I wouldn’t go that far. We need to take everything on its merits.”

“If I’m creating a culture within an industry and making the companies create a culture within their organisations, I believe we can set a framework that we can feel comfortable in sending these animals across.”

“If it’s not our sheep or cattle it will be someone else’s without the same values we have, and I can’t let that happen. I have a responsibility to get this right.”

The Turnbull government has rejected a ban on live exports in favour of rules to increase space allocated to sheep on ships by 39%, improve ventilation and increase penalties for directors who flout the standards.

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But the Liberal MP Sussan Ley, backed by several Liberal colleagues, is pursuing a private member’s bill to ban live sheep exports in the northern summer starting next year, and in five years totally ban the transport of sheep and lambs to the Middle East or to any routes through the Persian Gulf or Red Sea.

In late May, a group of Liberals used their regular party room meeting to express significant concern about the live export industry. During the discussion, Malcolm Turnbull rebuked Ley for bringing forward the private member’s bill rather than taking her concerns to Littleproud, which angered some MPs.

During a vigorous debate where at least 14 government MPs expressed views, the Queensland Liberal Warren Entsch told colleagues the live sheep trade was a declining industry and the government should be looking actively to transitional measures rather than propping up the trade.

Entsch predicted that one more scandal, like the one 60 Minutes documented recently when it aired footage of sheep suffering extreme distress on the Emanuel Exports stocked ship Awassi Express, would finish the sheep trade.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Footage filmed on board the Awassi Express on a voyage from Fremantle to the Middle East in August 2017 shows sheep packed in and climbing over each other to get to feed troughs. Photograph: 60 Minutes/Channel Nine

Victorian Liberal Russell Broadbent said live exports was “white hot” in political terms and a vote changer. Queensland Liberal Luke Howarth noted he wasn’t a “greenie” and he was being inundated with complaints and concerns from Liberal supporters.

Littleproud was not in Canberra for the meeting.

Ley told Guardian Australia late last month her bill should be considered by the parliament. “It should be debated. It’s a really powerful topic for many people and it’s an important topic for Australia. I think it should be debated and everybody vote according to how they feel.

“I’m not calling it a conscience vote, but [at the point the debate comes on] I believe we will see the parliament at its best, as we have with the gay marriage debate and with other issues I’ve seen over the years.”