Federal election 2025: O’Connor Labor candidate Darren Moir clarifies position on live export ban support

O’Connor Labor candidate Darren Moir has clarified his position on the live sheep export ban on Saturday, telling the Advertiser he did not support the ban. The sheep and grain farmer was at Mt Lockyer Primary School when he said he had always been against it despite telling the Advertiser two weeks earlier that it was the “right time for the industry”. “I didn’t support the ban, but I want to recognise that there will be a livestock industry after the ban,” he said. “The WA Labor Party was against the ban, but we didn’t have the numbers . . . that’s the way it happened, I have always been against it.” Two weeks earlier, the Advertiser asked Mr Moir how he reconciled being a farmer with Labor’s policy on the live sheep trade. “The livestock industry will survive and there is a $140 million transition package which will help,” he said. “But it’s also the right time for the industry to have a good old look at itself and ask why the margins are so tight for farmers. “There are two large processing plants in O’Connor, and it is time to get them cranked up because I would love to have more processing done onshore, here in Australia.” When he was subsequently asked by the Advertiser’s sister masthead Countryman for an interview on the Monday ahead of the election, a spokeswoman said Mr Moir was “working on his farm” and would not be available “for the next couple of days”. He was still unavailable on Friday when the Advertiser made several attempts to reach him. At the Mt Lockyer Primary School on Saturday, Mr Moir denied going to ground and said he was following the direction of his media team. “My media team handle that and I do the interviews they tell me to do,” he said. “We’re a very disciplined outfit — I’m very impressed with how the Labor Party does it. “I do as I’m told and I’m part of the system.” In further comments, which he embargoed for Sunday, Mr Moir expanded on his live export position, telling the Advertiser he thinks farmers are being “stirred up” over the live export ban when they should be working for the livestock industry’s future. “I’ve got to say I think that farmers, that Keep the Sheep mob, are being sold a pup because they’re not going to be able to reverse it even if they do win the election, because they won’t control the Senate and the crossbenchers won’t let them repeal it,” he said. “A whole lot of people are being stirred up for something that’s already done. “I keep saying look to the future, we can’t just keep fighting these battles of the past — we’re going to look to the future and make that work for us.” The Federal candidate said he had no regrets running in the 2025 election. “It was a short campaign and we did the best we could and we hope we’ve provided a viable alternative to what people have been voting for in the past,” he said. “I’m glad I did it — I’m very positive about agriculture and so many of the messages we get. “Agriculture has actually got a great story, we’re making a lot of money. “We’re making a lot of money for WA and we deserve everything we get in the bush that comes out of the Federal and State governments.”