‘Farmers are urged not to engage with the advisory process, not to accept any transitional payments, and not to legitimise the panels or peak bodies with their attendance at meetings‘
The heat has been turned up under Environment Minister Murray Watt’s seat by former federal Senators Rod Culleton, Bob Day, and Len Harris, all condemning the Labor Government’s plan to ban the live sheep export trade.
up the heat under Labor Environment
Minister Murray Watt for trying to ban live sheep exports with ALP ideology
The Senators maintain that banning trade is a constitutional breach, a political fix, and a consent-by-deception trap engineered through advisory panels and complicit peak bodies.
Rod Culleton, a former Senator and active West Australian farmer whose operation included a feedlot supplying both domestic and international live export markets, says the ban is a direct assault on trade which is protected under Section 51(i) of the Commonwealth Constitution.
“This is not ‘Keep the Sheep’ — the sheep aren’t going anywhere,” Mr Culleton said.
“This is about ‘Keep Shipping Sheep’. It’s about lawful, constitutionally protected trade. Section 51(i)of the Commonwealth Constitution gives the Commonwealth power to regulate trade — not destroy it and Murray Watt is a Brisbane solicitor, so he should be aware of this protection.
has former Senators Bob Day
and Len Harris all warning Murray
Watt he is on shaky Constitutional
ground
“What Minister Watt and now Agriculture Minister Julie Collins are attempting is executive overreach, and we won’t be conned into consenting to it.
“Collins and her Labor mates got a wake-up call at Saturday’s Tasmania election and she needs to tread carefully.”
Queensland’s renegade MHR Bob Katter added fuel to the fire saying he did not trust Liberal leader Sussan Ley to support farmers who export live sheep or cattle.
“Sussan Ley introduced a private member’s bill into the Lower House in 2018 that would ban live sheep exports to the Middle East during the northern hemisphere summer months in 2019 and close the sector down entirely in five years,” Mr Katter said.
The former Senators are warning farmers that the Government’s hand-picked advisory committee is being used to engineer the illusion of consent, not consultation. Rather than engage farmers directly, the government had lured peak bodies into public forums and media appearances to give the impression of broad consensus—knowing full well that many farmers are not members, have not given consent, and do not authorise these organisations to speak or negotiate on their behalf.
Day has thrown his weight behind
WA farmers
“This is a deception,” said Mr Culleton.
“The advisory panel is not the Parliament. It’s a front. Peak bodies are sitting down with them, chasing the next National Party endorsement, while the government uses their presence to claim consent from the wider farming community.
“We don’t authorise them. They don’t speak for us.
“In July 2024, the three former Senators served a Quo Warranto notice — a constitutional demand to “show your lawful authority” — on Minister Watt. They believe this service triggered his quiet removal as Agriculture Minister and was replaced by Julie Collins, who has since tiptoed around WA, unwilling or unable to respond to the lawful demand.
“A Quo Warranto rises above ministerial discretion. It’s a constitutional test — and they failed it. Julie Collins has inherited a legal mess, and she knows it. Her office is still in possession of an unanswered Quo Warranto, and until it is satisfied, she lacks constitutional legitimacy to outlaw trade under Section 51(i).”
Mr Culleton urged farmers not to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal action that could not succeed due to the separation of powers doctrine.
“Courts cannot interfere with parliamentary proceedings. The High Court cannot strike down a law before it is made. This is a political battle, not a legal one — and it will be won by the people refusing to participate in this deception. Consent is their weapon. Starve them of it.”
The Senators are aware that many farmers are not members of these peak bodies and do not authorise them to speak, act, or negotiate on their behalf. These groups had no authority to negotiate the closure of an industry they do not own.
Farmers are urged not to engage with the advisory process, not to accept any transitional payments, and not to legitimise the panels or peak bodies with their attendance. To do so is to give the Government the very thing it needs to close this industry: consent. A number of Farmers across Australia are now rejecting all transitional payments, stating that accepting money is giving consent—and gives the Government the one thing it cannot take: your lawful agreement.
“Every dollar you accept, every meeting you attend, every handshake with an advisory panel is being used against you. This is not consultation. It’s theatre. It’s engineered to show public and parliamentary support where none exists. Refuse to attend. Refuse to engage. Refuse all compensation. Keep Shipping Sheep,” he said.
The former Senators also dismissed state-level protests as insufficient believing a live export ban is not a matter that can be effectively addressed by protests or actions confined to individual states.
Culleton said the ban is a federal government decision made under Commonwealth law affecting the entire national live export industry. While state-level protests showed passion and commitment, they cannot on their own stop a federal prohibition.
He said it was absolutely essential that farmers and communities across all states came together simultaneously in a coordinated, united campaign. Only a strong, national voice would have the power to hold the Commonwealth government accountable and protect this industry for all Australians as Section 51(i) of the Constitution protects trade and commerce.
The Government’s unlawful order cannot prohibit lawful export to appease lobbyists, secure political preference deals, reward fringe activist parties or please some obscure UN policy.
“If this goes unchallenged by the people, it sets a dangerous precedent. Today it’s live sheep. Tomorrow it could be cattle, grain, iron ore or coal.
“This ban is a test of how far the Commonwealth can go in shutting down industries without lawful authority.”
For comment or further information, contact: Rod Culleton Former federal Senator & WA farmer rod.culleton@greataustralianparty.com.au
