ABSTRACT
The export of live animals developed in the early 1960s, when large numbers of Australian sheep began to be transported to the Middle East. Since then, distinct waves of opposition to the live animal export trade emerged. In 1974, the Australasian Meat Industry Employees’ Union (AMIEU), whose members were negatively affected by the trade, initiated an industrial campaign that targeted export companies and lobbied government to place restrictions and ratios on the export industry to protect meat workers’ jobs. With the emergence of the animal movement in the mid-1970s, objections to trade were framed around animal welfare. These two social movements, each with their own interests, campaigned to ban the trade. Over time, against a backdrop of industrial crises, the animal welfare perspective grew in saliency and featured in public debate, often focusing on the inherent cruelty involved in the export of live animals. In 1983, public pressure and the work of the Australian Democrats helped create the Select Senate Committee on Animal Welfare, whose terms of inquiry included an examination of the export industry. Although the trade was reformed in a limited way and powerful economic interests prevailed, shifts had taken place; animal activists emerged as important actors in Australian politics.
