Thousands descend on Wheatbelt in sheep export ban protest

They came in droves, youths, trucks and cars. The queue of cars to get in was about four kilometres long. Bit of a traffic jam. Yeah. The number plates, they've come from far and wide. So, you know, farmers are very angry about this. Frustrated workers travelling to the weed belt to save their livelihood, fighting for the Federal Government to overturn its plan to phase out live exports in WA by 2028. It's probably been one of my hardest, probably the hardest 12 months of. My farming career. The legislation today being scrutinised at a public hearing at the Muresk Institute in Northern. There are thousand people. There's thousands of people out there. They are not dumb country Hicks that live in a vacuum. No, no, they know what to do. Painting a picture of regional WA without live exports. This will push the cost of their food up and reduce their employment opportunities. A controversial political figure joining the charge. Farmers are gonna lose the farming sector. We're going to lose communities. They will die because of this. This is an income that's needed. If we're not in the live shape trade, that means that the welfare standards of that trade will decline because it's Australia that's actually dragged the welfare standards of that up. The main event is inside that hall. It fits really only 100 people. The overflow was out here. With many, many farmers standing together, watching a live stream and sharing their stories, braving the crowd. Dogs launching live export scrapped. I'll ask that those props be removed, please. Australian sheep have suffered enough. It is time to do the right thing. The recommendations expected to be handed down next week. At this point, the Federal Agriculture Minister continues to defend his government's position. We promised Australians and we promised W Australians that we would do this. And what we're doing now is implementing that commitment. Now the rest of Australian farmers are going well. Who's next? Is it cattle? Is it cotton? Is it rice? It's a very anti farming government. Rachel Clifford, 9 News.