Opposition to live sheep trade

Press, 2 September 1986, Page 2

Opposition to live sheep trade

The Government has been told by the Labour Party to stop the export of live sheep. After a heated debate, and in spite of the pleas of some Labour members of Parliament from rural areas, a remit opposing the trade was passed on a show of hands by a ratio of about three votes to two.

The Acting Minister of Agriculture, Mr Colman, told the conference the trade was necessary to keep up farmer confidence during hard times in the primary industries. He said the Live Sheep Exports Committee had two meat worker representatives on it to ensure that worker interests were considered each time a

shipment was approved. Only about 300 meat worker jobs were put at risk by the trade, aid Mr Jim Sutton (Lab., Waitaki). In return, thousands of farmers, farm workers, and service industries were kept going because of the confidence the trade engendered, a critical factor at this time of low farm returns, he said.

But Mr Chris Trotter, of the Shop Employees’ Union in Dunedin, said the trade was exporting meat workers’ jobs in sheep’s clothing. The trade was exporting regional development, and ruining New Zealand’s reputation for humanity, he said.