The alleged removal of a senior live export veterinarian from her job with the Department of Agriculture reveals the level of control the live export industry has over the Turnbull-Joyce government, Greens animal welfare spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon said.

The ABC's 7.30 report "Vet removed for exposing appalling conditions on live export ships" was screened last night.

This edition of Simms in the Senate covers Senator Robert Simms' recent work on promoting green jobs for SA, protecting the Great Australian Bight, standing with the community against a nuclear waste dump in regional SA, phasing out live animal export, and the latest campaign news on marriage equality, Safe Schools, tertiary education, and more.

Commenting on tonight's ABC report that shows exported Australian cattle sledgehammered to death, Greens animal welfare spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon said:

"The ABC report of the most horrific treatment of live export cattle is sickening, heart breaking and beyond belief.

"Prime Minister Turnbull must respond to Animal Australia's call for urgent intervention to stop this horror.

Commenting on reports that Greyhound Racing NSW has charged 179 trainers and owners for allegedly exporting dogs to Macau, Greens spokesperson for animal welfare Senator Lee Rhiannon said:

"The sheer scale of the number of trainers involved shows that this systemic abuse of the rules cant be fixed. This industry needs to be shut down.

Responding to today's report that monkeys are being experimented on in Australia, Greens animal welfare spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon has called for greater openness by the institutions involved and the government agencies that oversee the welfare of these animals.

"Research should not be secretive," Senator Rhiannon said.

Greens spokesperson for animal welfare Senator Lee Rhiannon has said fresh evidence of live export abuse aired on 7.30 is further proof that the Australian government's regulations are doing very little to end the enormous suffering of animals overseas.

"The unwillingness of the Australian government to administer criminal charges against offending export companies means we have seen yet another expose of animal cruelty on TV," said Senator Rhiannon.

US media reports that Australia may have broken Californian lobbying laws in an attempt to overturn the ban on kangaroo products highlights how far the Abbott government will go to benefit a handful of exporters, Greens spokesperson for animal welfare Senator Lee Rhiannon.

This story has broken in the US following a response from the Department of Agriculture to a question asked by Senator Rhiannon about lifting California's ban on imported kangaroo products.

It is Country Liberal Party Senator Nigel Scullion, with his safari hunting plan for the Northern Territory, who is running feral not the crocodiles, Greens animal welfare spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon said.

"Minister Scullion should be pulled into line by the Environment Minister Greg Hunt who rejected safari crocodile hunting in the Northern Territory last year," Senator Rhiannon said.

An independent Office of Animal Welfare is needed now more than ever, given the Abbott government's support for legislation that will prosecute vets, journalists, animal protection groups and other members of the public who uncover and expose animal cruelty, Greens spokesperson for animal welfare Senator Rhiannon said.