Protesters call for Albanese to set a date to end live exports as future of livestock on MV Bahijah looms

Fremantle Labor MP Josh Wilson has addressed a crowd of protesters rallying against live exports, labelling the return of a ship carrying nearly 20,000 sheep and cattle as a “welfare crisis” The MV Bahijah, with up to 15,000 sheep and about 2000 cattle on board, has been at sea for 25 days since being ordered by the Department to turn back to Fremantle after diverting to South Africa due to rising tensions in the Red Sea. The ship continued to be anchored off Fremantle on Tuesday night as it awaited to dock or find a new route to take the animals to Israel. More than 100 people rallied across from the berth where the MV Bahijah is expected to dock, with attendees holding images of sheep on live export ships with one sign saying, “MV Bahija: Ship of sh*t and shame”. Standing alongside animal rights extremists MP Josh Wilson called the live export industry a “marginal, cruel, and unnecessary trade” in front of the angered crowd. “The bottom line is that live sheep cannot be contained on a ship in one of the hottest and most unstable parts of the world,” he said. “There is no sliding scale that makes the suffering of animals acceptable but it’s also true that this industry has been in decline for 20 years, it has declined by more than 90 per cent. “It is worth less than one per cent of Western Australia’s agricultural output.” His comments come as farmers in WA called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “stop ignoring” the industry and making decisions without understanding the impacts his policy will have on their livelihoods. Mr Albanese has gone to the past two Federal elections pledging to end the live sheep export trade but has not yet set a date on when this would happen. One farmer who said she felt unheard by Mr Albanese is Brookton sheep producer Ellen Walker, who said the doubts surrounding the trade had left her family fearing they’d one day not be able to put food on the table. “He doesn’t have a clue (about the industry). He’s made these election promises and then he’s either hidden from them because they’re too big and scary, or he’s palmed them off to his ministers so they are the ones that have to do the work,” she said. “They need to grow some balls and say, we are phasing this out or we aren’t phasing this out and give us some certainty so that we can make some decisions going forward.” Mr Albanese not yet setting a date to ban live exports had also angered protesters with attendees calling for the prime minister to legislate the end of live exports immediately. Notorious vegan activist Tash Peterson was among the crowd at the rally. “The ship that is docked, those sheep are probably in a really terrible condition and the debate is whether to send them back over to the Middle East or to let them off here and murder them here but I think both of those options are equally abhorrent,” she told The West Australian. Stop Live Exports communications and events manager Rebecca Tapp said the public was outraged that the shipment was approved when the risks of the Houthi rebel attacks were known. “Animal welfare was not a primary consideration in the Bahijah’s journey,” she said. “This is yet another example that live export is cruel and can’t be regulated. “We’re calling on the Prime Minister to end the animals’ suffering sooner rather than later by legislating an end date for the trade during this term of Parliament.” Greens South Metropolitan MP Brad Pettit, and Animal Justice Party WA conveners Michael Anagno and Amanda Dorn were also among the speakers at the rally. “We have a heatwave coming and they’re on a hot ship with no sea breeze. We need to do the right thing and get them off,” Mr Pettit added, which was met with applause. “If there ever is a moment to stop this trade is now as there is only terrible ways to now export through the Middle East.” As the rally ended, protesters were calling for the Federal Government to “legislate the date” and “let them off”.