The Greens have announced their plan for animal welfare ahead of the federal election.
Both the Coalition and Labor have ignored animal welfare over the last term of parliament, and actively supported industries that harm animals. The Greens believe we must properly care for animals and treat them with respect and compassion. We will fight to protect animals from cruelty and suffering and end harmful practices that put profit ahead of the welfare of animals.
As part of our plan, the Greens will push to:
- Enact strong, national laws to end animal cruelty, protect the welfare of animals, and hold corporations and individuals to account
- Ban the cruel practice of live export of animals overseas
- End inhumane, intensive factory farming with a just transition for workers employed in those industries
- Shut down the gambling-fuelled industries of horse and greyhound racing, and end the export of greyhounds for commercial purposes
- Tackle the cruel global shark fin trade by banning the import and export of shark fins
- Establish an Independent Office of Animal Welfare to enforce the rules and ensure animal welfare is never ignored again
The Greens full policy initiative is available here.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens spokesperson for Animal Welfare, said:
"Animals are sentient beings, not commodities. Yet every day their welfare is compromised in the name of corporate profit, as they are made to suffer for gambling, entertainment and food.
"Too often, animal welfare gets sidelined, and over the last three years we have seen Labor and the Coalition turn a blind eye to animal cruelty and actively support industries that harm animals.
"We need strong animal cruelty laws and an Independent Office separate from the Department of Agriculture to enforce these laws and protect animals.
"Cruel practices that are harmful to animals must be brought to an end. That means shutting down industries such as live export and racing.
"The live export industry continues to hold immense power over this government, which has recently relaxed restrictions on live sheep export during the Northern Hemisphere summer that were designed to protect the animals from mortality and heat stress.
"It's time we put animal protection squarely on the agenda for this election and put in place strong policies that will protect their welfare.
"We know people care about animals. It's high time for politicians to listen."
