The footage sparked the industry's latest crisis, compelling the government to announce an overhaul of the trade on the advice of recommendations from vet Michael McCarthy. Ms Oogjes told Mr Littleproud the Kuwait and Qatar governments should see the images to determine whether the trade meets animal welfare and religious requirements. Liberal MP Sussan Ley addresses the media after the introduction of the Private Members Bill (Live Sheep Long Haul Export Prohibition Bill 2018), in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen It comes after a US expert in Islamic law raised concerns about Middle Eastern countries supporting the trade if they were shown the conditions during the northern hemisphere summer. Harvard University professor Kristen Stilt said the overcrowding and heat stress present in the footage did not comply with Islamic law.

"The sheep standing or lying in their own excrement for three weeks are also at risk for contracting diseases and producing meat that is not halal," she said. "The same is true for animals who are confined in pens where other animals are becoming sick and dying." Frame grab from a video showing the rotting carcasses of the sheep that died during a live export trip to the Middle East. Credit:Animals Australia Mr Littleproud announced a raft of reforms to the industry last week, including more room for sheep on live export ships. Every vessel will have an independent observer to keep a close eye on conditions.

The government will attempt to legislate for harsh new penalties for animal welfare breaches including jail terms of up to 10 years. Despite the changes, rogue Liberal MPs led by former minister Sussan Ley have pushed ahead with a private member's bill to end live exports which on Monday was introduced to Parliament. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Ms Ley reflected on her career as a sheep farmer, mustering pilot and shearing shed worker as she argued that long-haul live exports failed on economic and animal welfare grounds. "I have been shocked, angered, bewildered and disappointed ... [but] I have not allowed emotions to overcome reason," Ms Ley told the lower house on Monday.

Farmers had been deceived for 30 years by an export industry that had talked the talk, but was "damn right culpable" when it came to walking the walk, Ms Ley said. Loading "Regulations written on paper in Australia cease to mean anything once the ship departs," she said. "Sanctioning further voyages on these ships of shame, particularly into a Middle Eastern summer, damages our brand." Ms Ley fears the Agriculture Minister's new safeguards don't go far enough.

"A 60-kilogram sheep will be allocated extra space equivalent to just under two A4 pieces of paper," Ms Ley said. Loading The government has rejected Ms Ley's bill, but will introduce its own this week to slap harsh new penalties on exporters doing the wrong thing, including jail sentences of up to 10 years. Debate on the bill was adjourned. Earlier on Monday, Ms Ley told ABC radio: "I, in some ways, compare this to the gay marriage debate, where several private member's bills were tabled over the years and they didn't provide the immediate response, but they were all part of building the case.

"This has been really a trade marked by disaster-following-debacle and that's gone on for 33 years." Loading Labor's agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon confirmed that the opposition would support the bill. "Private member's bills are not the ideal way to promote legislation, but this is what happens when the government of the day vacates the field of an issue which is so important to the Australian community," he told reporters in Canberra. He is hopeful the bill will get 71 votes if Labor can restore its numbers to 69 in the lower house following a series of byelections, and with the support of Liberal MP Sarah Henderson who has broken ranks to back the push.

Then, only five more are needed to secure an absolute majority and three of those could be found on the crossbench, Mr Fitzgibbon said. The Australian Greens also believe there could be the numbers to pass the legislation. The move followed a review into the live sheep trade prompted by footage of sheep dying in their own filth in horrific conditions during Middle East bound voyages. Ms Henderson said the key issue was the extreme temperature on board the ships headed to the Middle East. "It's like putting a dog in a car on a hot summer's day, that will lead inevitably to death," she told ABC TV.

She defended the bill as responsible, saying unlike Labor's previous trade bans this would be phased in over time. But former agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce rejected her claims. "If you shut down the live sheep trade you're going to make people poorer," he told reporters, fearing the impact on farmers. Colleague Scott Buchholz said the move would hurt farmers' livelihoods in his Queensland electorate of Wright, just as with Labor's 2011 live cattle export ban to Indonesia. "While we are a broad church ... I wouldn't suggest that the majority of those bringing the bill to the house are the true voice for the exporters of sheep," he said.

AAP