Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described graphic footage of Australian sheep being brutally slaughtered in Jordan as "disturbing", but he has defended live exports as a "good system."
Mr Abbott says the video, taken by activist group Animals Australia and aired on ABC TV, is being investigated by the federal government.
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The video footage was gathered during the Eid al-Adha, or Festival of Sacrifice, in Jordan in mid October.
It has been sent to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and shows sheep being dragged along the ground, thrown into car boots and carved open at the throat.
In one scene, four dying sheep lie twitching in an open street alongside the still body of a fifth.
The images have rekindled debate about Australia's live export trade, with Animals Australia saying ten thousand Australian sheep were sold outside the current Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System.
Mr Abbott has repeatedly backed the live export industry, saying the current system is designed to ensure animals are not mistreated.
"It's important that the industry proceed on a sound footing. We believe that appropriate cautions have already been put in place. This footage certainly is being investigated and if the rules are being broken, we'll ensure that that ends and that the rules are enforced."
The Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System was introduced by the former Labor government following the cruel treatment of Australian cattle in Indonesian abattoirs back in 2011.
It makes Australian companies responsible for ensuring exported animals are slaughtered in a humane way.
Animal rights activists say the sheep's ear tags in the video show they were from Australian farms.
Only two companies export sheep to Jordan from Australia.
One of the companies, Livestock Shipping Services, has released a statement confirming that some of the sheep are from its farms and that it will cooperate with the investigation.
The other livestock company which exports sheep to Jordan, Wellard, says it has not exported any of the sheep in the footage.
Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has ruled out stopping live exports to Jordan, saying such a move would only end up hurting Australian producers.
"I'm not going to be part and process of replicating what we did with the Indonesian live cattle trade and shutting it down. That would be an extremely poor position for Australia to be in. It would affect not only the treatment of animals in the future in the Middle East because animals would still be slaughtered, they just wouldn't be Australian animals. It would have no capacity to affect the humane treatment of animals. It would create instead an effect on the income-earning capacity of people who are currently dealing with issues such as the drought and shutting down another industry for Australia which can't afford to be shut down."
Federal Independent MP Andrew Wilkie says he believes the footage reflects a broader systemic problem across the live export industry.
Mr Wilkie says there has been evidence of cruelty in other countries as well, including Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan and the Australian government should abandon all live exports now.
"It's not a one-off issue. The system is broken. It's not in Australia's economic self-interest. It doesn't have any popular support and it should be wound up."
