Under the plan put forward by the Greens, the government would manage a transition to boxed and chilled meat; provide financial assistance to farmers to ease the adjustment; train meat processing workers; lobby internationally against live exports and for processed meats; and create new positions in the public service to support the industry. “The transition from live sheep exports to local processing for international trade can start now. There is absolutely no need to continue the cruel live sheep export industry,” Greens senator Lee Rhiannon said of the proposal, which is backed by the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union. “The Turnbull government’s assurances that the welfare of exported animals can be protected are worthless. At every stage they have failed to protect exported sheep from suffering. Labor’s plan for a temporary ban creates more uncertainty." Death ship: The live export ship Maysora. Credit:Animals Australia Earlier this month, 60 Minutes aired confronting footage of a live export voyage to Qatar on which 2400 sheep died, mainly due to heat stress.

In response to the footage, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud announced a snap review into the industry that will examine whether live exports should continue in the particularly deadly summer months. Mr Littleproud has also resisted the calls, including from Coalition MPs, to bring an end to the trade, saying a "knee-jerk ban would punish farmers who have done nothing wrong". Loading Labor has called for the creation of an inspector general of animal welfare – a proposal that has been picked up the Australian Live Exporters' Council - and said the exports should be suspended immediately pending the findings of the government's review. Senator Hanson said the former Labor government's live export ban in 2011 "devastated" farmers and said there was demand for live animals in the Middle East because of the way animals were slaughtered and the lack of refrigeration equipment.