Questions without notice and ministers statements
Animal welfare
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:07): (445) My question is for the minister representing the Minister for Agriculture. The government has just doubled fines targeting animal activists under the guise of biosecurity – the second increase since the inquiry into the impact of animal rights activism on Victorian agriculture – despite there being no infringement notices or warnings issued for the last two years. Yet we only know of the severe breaches and cruelty occurring in farms and slaughterhouses because of these activists. In May 2020 the government responded to the inquiry, expressing its support for recommendation 14 to implement mandatory CCTV in Victorian abattoirs to monitor animal welfare treatment. Why hasn’t the government implemented CCTV in all Victorian abattoirs, and what consultation has occurred to reach this decision?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:08): I thank Ms Purcell for her question. I will get some information from the Minister for Agriculture and ensure that it is provided to you.
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:08): Thank you, Attorney, for referring that on. The government also stated its support for recommendation 12 of that inquiry, being to:
… conduct an examination of alternative practices used around the world in the treatment of live male chicks in the egg industry and the use of blunt force trauma on goats, pigs, and cows with a view to adopting ‘world’s best’ practice –
with the standards to be higher than those in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. I raised the issue of live chick maceration on 9 March 2023 in this place, and we received an answer that the government’s commitment to animal welfare will be evidenced in the new Animal Care and Protection Bill. However, the proposed bill is silent on these issues, failing to protect male chicks from being minced alive in an industrial-sized blender. Can the minister share what alternative practices were identified in its review last year and if they will be implemented to ensure higher standards than this act?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:09): I will certainly allow Minister Spence to provide you a detailed response, but I just think from my experience of that act there are also a lot of accompanying codes that would be required to be updated as part of the commitment in relation to animal welfare et cetera. In terms of your identification that things are not caught by a particular act, a lot of it sits in codes. I am sure they will be able to give you a little bit more detail in relation to that.