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UPDATE: Political Commitments in Response to Sprout Tasmania’s Service-Kill Processing Report

17/07/25

Following the release of our Livestock Service-Kill Processing: An Investigative Report and our public call for reform, Sprout Tasmania welcomes the responses from Tasmania’s major political parties ahead of the 2025 State Election. Each party has acknowledged the importance of strengthening local, small-scale meat processing infrastructure—and the role it plays in resilient, sustainable food systems.

Tasmanian Labor Response

Tasmanian Labor has formally acknowledged the urgency of reform, stating that “without timely and coordinated action, Tasmania’s service-kill processing system risks further fragility.” Labor has committed to:

  • Support for Sprout Tasmania: Collaborating with us to secure resources for continued coordination and engagement work stemming from our report.
  • Government Department Resourcing: Ensuring departments are equipped to implement the key actions identified in our report.
  • Continuation of Key Working Groups: Including the Small-Scale Processing Workgroup chaired by Felicity Richards and the Livestock Processing Taskforce – Animal Welfare.

We welcome Labor’s recognition of our report as “a clear and practical roadmap for reform” and their commitment to ensuring small-scale producers have a meaningful voice in shaping agricultural policy.

Tasmanian Liberal Response

The Premier has acknowledged the value of small-scale producers and reiterated the Liberal Government’s broader commitment to the agricultural sector. In response to our report and request for support, the Mr Rockliff highlighted:

  • Processing Solutions: A willingness to work with small producers to explore on-farm processing innovations, with a strong emphasis on ensuring these do not compromise food safety, animal welfare, or environmental standards.
  • Strategic Industry Partnerships Program (SIPP): Encouraged Sprout to apply for co-investment grants through existing programs to support implementation of report recommendations.
  • New TasInsure Initiative: A Tasmanian-owned insurance provider aimed at delivering more affordable and tailored coverage for farms and small businesses.

The Liberal response reflects support for ongoing collaboration, however, it does not recognise our request for resourcing, nor acknowledge our request for an ongoing commitment to departmental resourcing, or structural commitments in direct response to the report. The focus remains on existing strategies, with limited recognition of the systemic challenges currently facing small-scale processors.

Tasmanian Greens Response

The Tasmanian Greens strongly backed the need for reform, criticising the current government’s neglect of small-scale producers and pledging:

  • Advocacy for Increased Investment: Committing to champion greater investment in small-scale, regenerative, community-led agriculture during the next parliamentary term.
  • Support for Food System Localisation: Reiterating their core values of sustainability, localism, and support for farmers building resilient food systems.

Sprout Tasmania thanks all parties for their responses and recognition of this critical issue. We remain committed to working across government, industry, and communities to ensure small-scale producers and processors are supported to thrive.

We encourage voters, stakeholders, and decision-makers to continue engaging with the findings of our report and to back political action that brings meaningful, lasting reform to Tasmania’s meat processing sector.

Download the full report: sprout.org.au/service-kill-report