Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak on something that is really getting stuck in the craw of my rural electorate in Western Australia—that is, the RSPCA. It is a wonderful organisation that is doing great things. They have created a reputation in Australia today that is absolutely iconic and I say, ‘Why don’t they stick with it?’ They have been responsible for protecting domestic pets over the years from the sadists who would inflict pain on them, and for protecting livestock on hobby blocks that would have been neglected, denied food and water and left in dreadful situations. These issues have been brought to the attention of the public through the media that defends them. These days, they are taking out multi-thousand-dollar ads in daily newspapers, stepping out of their iconic role into agriculture and food production generally. It is an absolute nonsense. Among other things, they are suggesting that we have got to stop jockeys using whips in the race of kings and that we have got to stop the mulesing of merino sheep in Australia, which is ruining our wool industry. They are going to stop the live export of livestock from Western Australia, where there are no abattoirs and therefore no justification for breeding stock other than to send it overseas. I suggest to you that the RSPCA will maintain their iconic reputation in Australia so long as they stick with their core business, which is looking after the welfare of domestic pets. Let them get back to it.