Rhiannon welcomes animal export pressure

GREENS senator Lee Rhiannon says she welcomes pressure from within the Labor caucus to phase out the live animal export trade.

Senator Rhiannon, addressing an animal welfare protest in Sydney's Hyde Park on Sunday, said the Greens welcomed the "growing number" of Labor backbenchers speaking out publicly about taking action on the live export trade.

Questions have again been raised over the trade after footage emerged of sheep being brutally culled - with some buried alive - by Pakistani authorities in Karachi.

Senator Rhiannon said she understood some of the backbenchers, including Kelvin Thomson and Dick Adams, are likely to raise the issue at the ALP's caucus meeting next week.

"We welcome that they are speaking out publicly," she told AAP on Sunday.

"We're hoping it gets on the agenda in the Labor caucus, and that by banning the live export trade we can have a win-win (situation), to reduce animal suffering and to boost jobs and the economy."

Senator Rhiannon said she knew of several MPs who had been "inundated with phone calls and messages" from people about the issue.

"My office is even taking phone calls from farmers who say they don't want to support the live export trade," she said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard's assurances of an investigation into the slaughter during talks with her Pakistani counterpart was not enough, Senator Rhiannon said.

"The point is, the government has no control of what happens to these animals once they go to other countries," she said.

"We're ready to talk to the government about how we can end live exports."

Senator Rhiannon dismissed as "rubbish" that jobs would be lost by moving the processing of chilled and frozen meat to Australia.

"That's where the government should be assisting, in the transition of the industry," she said.

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Rhiannon welcomes animal export pressure

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