Farmers are meeting today with a Liberal MP after she publicly called for a ban on live sheep exports.

The National Farmers’ Federation, alongside Western Australian farmers, are meeting with former Health Minister Sussan Ley after she turned heads last week with her call to ban live sheep exports to the Middle East.

Her comments follow a 60 Minutes exposé showing horrific footage of sheep dying on live export ships bound for the Middle East.

In one voyage, nearly 900 sheep died in one day due to heat stress.

Ben Fordham speaks with CEO of Australian Livestock Exporters Council Simon Westaway who says “things have to change”.

“We’re part of a $20-billion a year red meat export industry.

“I’ve seen all the footage, it’s appalling.”

Mr Westaway admits he knew the footage was going to be bad but insists systems are in place to ensure this doesn’t happen.

“I knew the footage was going to be poor.

“There is monitoring systems on board, there’s environmental sensors.”

Listen to the full interview below