Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this important motion brought by the member for Clark and thank him for bringing it into the parliament. Australia has not had a government so committed to animal welfare as the current government, and I'm very proud to be a part of it. We believe in strong animal welfare standards, and we believe that all animals should be treated humanely. This is something that my constituents also care deeply about. In fact, one of the first and definitely one of the biggest letter-writing campaigns I received in 2019 was about the live sheep export trade, and this was in the wake of damning evidence of animal cruelty in that industry. I know that many colleagues from around the country have similarly had many constituents get in touch with them around this. Back then, I wrote to the then agriculture minister, David Littleproud, calling on him to end this trade. I'm incredibly proud that it was a Labor government that was able to get this important reform through, something that my constituents demanded, that rank-and-file members mobilised for across the country and that former agriculture minister Murray Watt was able to make happen.

As the previous speakers have highlighted, this week we will see the running of the Melbourne Cup, the race that once 'stopped a nation'. While many Australians continue to tune in every year, a growing number of Australians do not feel the same excitement as they once did. Light has been shone on poor animal welfare outcomes in the racing industry and a growing number of Australians no longer want to be part of this event. As this motion highlights, we've seen absolutely terrible outcomes for animals, particularly in the greyhound racing industry. This year, we've already seen almost 100 on-track deaths and almost 8,500 injuries. For horses, the story is no better. Between August 2021 and July 2022, 139 horses died. At least one horse dies every two days on Australian race tracks. In Victoria, the jumps racing industry still exists. Jumps racing is 20 times more dangerous to horses than flat racing. Every other state and territory has already banned this practice. In August of this year, three horses were killed during a single event.

I understand the growing sense of community frustration with this industry, and so does our government. Since coming to power, we have strengthened our national approach to animal welfare. We're delivering on key election commitments and have committed $5 million to the renewal of the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy. Earlier this year, the government confirmed our commitment to jointly lead the renewal of the strategy, confirming our commitment to a modern, sustainable, evidence based and science based approach to animal welfare. We're demonstrating that Australia's strong animal welfare standards are important to strengthen the reputation of our animal and agricultural industries with trading partners and the community. Our funding will ensure that the strategy includes a vision, key priorities and practical actions. The final strategy is scheduled to be released in 2027.

The renewal of the strategy will be undertaken in collaboration with state and territory governments and in consultation with industry and animal welfare stakeholders. This is in stark contrast to the coalition. Unbelievably, the coalition took no commitments on animal welfare to the last election, showing their complete disregard for the importance of strong animal welfare standards to the Australian people. As the previous speaker, the member for Mackellar, drew attention to, the previous Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, actually abolished the part of the department with responsibility for animal welfare, which is shameful. I am proud that Labor is taking a different approach to this, and, once again, I want to thank the member for Clark for bringing forward this important motion to the House today.

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