Community with us: Keep the Sheep petition hits over 44k signatures in a single week

The Keep the Sheep petition has officially surpassed the petition used as the reason to ban live sheep in just one week and Keep the Sheep organiser, Ben Sutherland said it was no surprise and further evidence that the policy was out of touch with mainstream people.

“We’ve set an amazing record, with over 44,000 signatures in a single week. This has been from a standing start, without a heavily funded campaign like the ones activists have. It shows the community supports farmers, truckies and people in country towns,”

“In introducing the Bill to ban live sheep to Parliament, the Government used the activists’ petition as justification, saying it ‘represented community expectations’, well, what about our communities’ expectations?”

“Labor wants to take away our livelihoods and communities based on a petition by activists, that we have blown past in just six days. It’s clear we have the Australian community on our side.”

Mr Sutherland said it had been amazing to see the grassroots movement gather steam with people jumping on board the cause and sending the petition to friends and family.

“We’re grateful for everyone taking the time and supporting us to get this far, so quickly. What we will continue to do is keep the pressure on to the Government to drop this awful policy.”

The Government is holding a House of Representatives inquiry into the Bill in Muresk on June 14 and Keep the Sheep is inviting supporters to attend from 8am to line the streets of the town to welcome the committee and show them how much the live sheep trade means to our communities.

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