Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

It continues:

If you continue to allow Animals Australia a privileged position in discussions with your Department, then you share their moral culpability.

This pattern of ethically questionable, if not illegal, activity was recently repeated with an Animals Australia activists taking covert footage of sheep in public places in Oman, an illegal activity under local law.

The fact they have a special place at the table with DAFF legitimises their activities, and their attacks upon agriculture.

On the DAFF website it says:

Australia leads the world in animal welfare…

W e have a unique regulatory system , unlike any other country that exports livestock.

We require exporters of livestock for human consumption ( known as feeder and slaughter livestock ) to have arrangements in place with supply chain partners.

This ensures humane treatment and handling of livestock is provided from the time they arrive in the importing countr y up to and including the point of slaughter.

Australia is the world leader in animal welfare in transportation and handling through live export.

Animals Australia's campaigns are scurrilous, morally indefensible and based around a fund-raising model cannot be justified in civil society.

By disassociating from Animals Australia, the Department can reaffirm its stance as a global leader in animal welfare and uphold the integrity of Australia's agricultural sector.

This is signed by Rick Wilson MP and Senator Slade Brockman. In closing, I ask leave to table the letter to Minister Watt.

Leave granted.

Thank you. In closing, I say to Minister Watt: we have reached a fork in the road. As more and more information comes to light, this government has the choice of either aligning itself with these animal activists or severing all ties and standing with Australian farmers and exporters.

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