News – May 2019 Archive

WAFarmers is pleased to have met with the Federal Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud to discuss the current situation surrounding the live sheep trade. Minister Littleproud met with a small delegation including representatives from WAFarmers lead by WAFarmers President Tony York and Vice President of Livestock Council John Wallace. Also in attendance was President of the Livestock Rural Transport Association Andy Jacob and delegates from Sheep Producers Australia. WAFarmers President Tony York said the organisation

WAFarmers Upper Great Southern, Central Great Southern and Corrigin/Lake Grace Zones would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who attended the meeting in Katanning on Friday 20 July. The support received was overwhelming and demonstrated the strong concern from the agricultural community regarding the future of the live sheep trade.  WAFarmers President Tony York said it was a very realistic meeting and it was great to see so many farmers attend to voice

WAFarmers Upper Great Southern, Central Great Southern and Corrigin/Lake Grace Zones are holding a combined meeting tomorrow, Friday 20 July at the Ram Pavilion, Katanning Leisure Centre to provide a forum for farmers and allied businesses to convey their opinions about the current situation of live sheep trade in Western Australia. This meeting is open to the public and we encourage farmers and anyone involved in the livestock industry to come along and share their

After the regrettable announcement yesterday of the suspension of the export licence for EMS Rural Exports, it is now uncertain when Emmanuel Exports and Kuwait Livestock Transport Trading will be able to resume their shipping services. President of WAFarmers, Tony York said it remains unclear whether there will be a pathway available to Emmanuel exports allowing them to resume shipping services in the future, however advice from Minster Littleproud, suggest there remains the opportunity for

WAFarmers has had confirmation from the directors of Emanuel Exports that the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources suspended the companies live export licence today. This has come after it was confirmed some weeks ago that the Department had undertaken investigations into possible criminal activities by Emanuel’s in the live sheep trade.   WAFarmers President Tony York said the organisation is keenly anticipating the results from the regulatory review that Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud initiated

The State Government yesterday released the 2018-19 State Budget, which has left WAFarmers underwhelmed due to minimal new expenditure into agriculture and regional Western Australia.  WAFarmers President Tony York said the organisation had hoped for more out of the Budget, though he acknowledged the difficult financial situation currently constraining the Western Australian Government’s finances. “We welcome the $45 million across four years to the building of the WA Grains Research and Development Capacity program, and the continued investment to support educational programs at Muresk Institute of Agriculture,” Mr York said. 

The delivery of the 2018-19 Federal Budget has seen some significant wins for agriculture in biosecurity and trade, but some serious omissions in the telecommunications space. WAFarmers President Tony York said a commitment of $121.6 million towards improving biosecurity systems to better manage risks and maintain Australia’s status as a clean, green country was welcomed. “Australia has a clean, green image that is the envy of world, due to our stringent biosecurity measures and resultant

Following the delivery of an Australian Veterinary Association scientific review in support of the State Government’s position on northern hemisphere summertime live sheep exports, WAFarmers has welcomed the additional information. WAFarmers President Tony York said the more data presented to the Federal review, the better. “We welcome and encourage the AVA information being sent to the Federal Government review, and look forward to seeing how the McCarthy review might incorporate these AVA recommendations,” Mr York

Comments from Member for Fremantle Josh Wilson MP about how a ban on live export would not affect Western Australian producers have been condemned by WAFarmers. Following the announcement of the Federal Opposition’s intentions to impose a phase out of live sheep exports, Mr Wilson said that a ban would not strongly affect Western Australian producers. WAFarmers President Tony York said Mr Wilson had based much of his economic analysis on national figures that were

WAFarmers has rejected calls from the Federal Opposition to impose a ban on live sheep exports, citing a need to stop the cruelty, not the trade. Shadow Minister for Agriculture Joel Fitzgibbon today announced his party’s intentions to phase out live exports, a move which has been condemned by the agricultural industry. “WAFarmers stands firm in supporting the Federal Government’s review into the live sheep export industry during northern hemisphere summer conditions,” WAFarmers President Tony