Animal rights activists in Australia have raised the pitch against shocking live exports, calling upon voters to consider cruelty to live export animals while voting and demanding candidates make their positions on the issue clear.

Animal rights, is a poignant subject in Australia and a dicey issue for political parties. Even as they voice concern over cruelty against animals, Parties, have been rather doggy about taking clear positions against live exports.

Live animal export is a major business activity in Australia and important to sustain trade and employment opportunities, in parts of the country.

However, this is the first federal election in Australia, when animal welfare activist have succeeded in creating such an impact. The ABC's Vote Compass website identifies live export as one of the top 30 election issues.

"If profits were the only measure of a trade's validity, then arms dealing, drug trafficking and the sex trade could also claim legitimate status," argues animal rights activist, Roslyn Wells in an article.

"Ethical considerations must also be taken into account, especially when it comes to these vulnerable animals, and the live export trade clearly fails the ethics test," she says.

Animal rights activists got a fillip in May 2011 when ABC aired its Four Corners program "A Bloody Business." The programme probed cruelty to live exported cattle in Indonesian abattoirs. The public reaction was instant. The then Gillard government temporarily suspended live export trade to Indonesia and ordered investigation into the allegations.

Several reports in the media later, revealed the cruelty towards animals exported from Australia, after gruelling sea voyages, in Pakistan and the Middle-East, which are major markets for live cattle. Activists say, animals sold to these markets are slaughtered for meat - their throats cut while fully conscious.

Intensity of the debate can also be gauged, in contradictory and conflicting pre-poll survey findings, which competing groups use to argue, how voters will sway.

In a pre-election poll, the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) found 86% of Australians were more likely to vote for a candidate who supports a phase out of live trade. In marginal electorates, the survey found, 61% were more likely to vote for a politician who supported an outright end to the trade.

Meanwhile, the Australian Livestock Exporters Council said their 2012 poll conducted by the National Farmers Federation found overwhelming support for the live export trade. It said well over 65% to 70% people support live export.

Australia currently exports over 3 million live animals for slaughter each year - mainly cattle, sheep and goats - to markets in the Middle East and Asia.