'Enough is enough': Coalition MP calls for sheep export ban

In a sign of mounting pressure, the powerful National Farmers Federation said it was open to a summer halt, stating that if animal welfare could not be guaranteed it would consider a policy that could delay 60 ships a year and risk its members millions of dollars.

"When we look at the history of the trade, the biggest issues have been around the July and August period, I do think we have to have every option on the table," Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson told Fairfax Media.

"If it means that we can't deliver during the height of summer then it means we might have abide by that."

Labor's federal agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon said the mistreatment of live animals was systemic and backed Agriculture Minister David Littleproud's investigation into his own department's handling of the issue and calls for company directors to face jail time.

He ruled out a total freeze on live exports but said all options were open for other measures, including a summer ban, while calling for the immediate appointment of an inspector-general for animal welfare.

"If you were starting again would you have a live export trade? Probably not," he said.

"I don’t know that we will ever meet community expectations and standards but to precipitously rid ourselves of the industry now would cause great harm to many rural producers and I think that would be a mistake."

Western Australia's Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan said she supported a summer ban despite the harm it would do to the industry that represents 75 per cent of the country's total live exports.

She followed WA federal Coalition MP Ian Goodenough, who issued a rebuke of the sector and warned support would grow within Parliament for an outright ban if livestock continued to be "subjected to cruel and inhumane conditions".

A summer ban would prevent 60 ships, carrying an average of 50,000 sheep, from leaving port, leaving 3 million sheep under a cloud, according to an analysis of peak historical shipping figures by Mecardo.

"If you were to ban travel for a quarter of the year that is going to be reasonable amount of sheep that are going to have to find a home and WA does not have that kind of demand locally," said analyst Matt Dalgleish.

He said the "mortality rate was extremely high" for Emanuel Exports shipments of live sheep during the northern summer months after they departed from Fremantle.

"But you can't just make a decision and hope that it all adjusts. If a ban isn't phased in then that is when the livelihood of farmers and meatstock workers is at stake."

It is understood the Department of Agriculture's own investigation relied solely on the word of the captain and vet aboard the ship, raising questions about the veracity of its reports that found no breaches of the export code. 

It found when high heat and humidity started to affect sheep, "individual animals identified as heat-affected or bogged were removed into alleyways near the ventilator."

Some of those "bogged" were found to be drowning in their own faeces and flesh, according to the vision obtained by Animals Australia, which claims that over 1000 animals have perished per shipment on 37 separate Emanuel Exports consignments since 2005.

WA Farmers president Tony York said banning exports over summer was "the very last strategy"  and priority should be given to having shipping routes modified and air-conditioning installed on ships.