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the australian farmer
Social licence in the 2020s
Amid debate surrounding the live sheep export industry, Grain Producers Australia questions the veracity of ‘social licence’ concerns.
By Colin Bettles, Grain Pro- ducers Australia
Secondly, the version of 'social licence' used to 'justify' this ban is politically distorted. That problem needs to be urgently addressed so producers have clarity and cer- tainty in future. Something is horribly wrong with the world when an industry that's operating with a success rate of 99.97pc (in preventing mor- talities) - remembering there's no such thing as zero risk - and has responded to 'public concerns', is now being banned, to serve a pol- itical agenda. The industry has taken its medi- cine from one prescribing doctor (the former Coalition government) but the new one insists the industry still has a deadly disease, despite evidence to the contrary. The real question should be – who's issuing this licence which tolerates such a flawed diagnosis
if re-elected. "The industry responded to those concerns with livestock ships being refitted to accom- modate and even to the point of suspending the trade during the Northern Hemisphere summer period. The inclusion of on-board veterinary staff was introduced to monitor the health of the stock in transit and to record any deaths during the voyage. The death rate on these modern livestock vessels is now about 0.03 per cent, which is lower than on-farm natural death rates," he wrote. So why does this closure of the live sheep trade concern Grain Pro- ducers Australia? Firstly, many of our members are also livestock producers: they're living already with the social and economic consequences, such as vastly reduced sheep prices.
Allan Marshall recently published an excellent article outlining the important role live sheep exports play in delivering multiple bene- fits, especially improved animal welfare and global food security. The Lake Grace farmer’s analy- sis also highlighted the industry's job-creation in rural communities, and taxation revenue that is subse- quently re-invested into delivering critical public services. "Export income provides the Australian people with the hos- pitals, schools, and many other ancillary services required by a modern society," he wrote. Allan's article rightly questioned the validity of 'social licence' issues raised by animal rights ac- tivists more than five years ago via highly emotive and sensation- alised media reports, which led to Labor's decision to ban the trade,
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