Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the Age yesterday and in the Warrnambool Standard today, the member for Dawson is reported to have criticised me for blaming Australian farmers for cruelty to livestock but not saying anything on the question of religion. This is incorrect on both counts. A reading of my speeches on the matter of live exports will reveal that while I have been very critical of the live export industry representative bodies—MLA and LiveCorp—I have made no criticisms of Australian farmers whatsoever. On the matter of religion I have expressly noted that preslaughter stunning is fully accepted as halal by religious authorities in Indonesia and that cruelty to animals is in fact contrary to Islamic law.

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