The Australian Greens have been long-time opponents of the live animal export trade working both within the parliament and with stakeholder groups towards ending this barbaric practice.
The Party’s opposition to this practice pre-dates the Gillard Labor Government’s 2011 temporary ban imposed before the Senate Inquiry into Animal Welfare Standards, instigated by Greens Senator Rachel Siewert. This ban was in response to ABC’s Four Corners exposure of the cruel trade that brutally exploits animals. The Senate inquiry report was released in November 2011, and did not go far enough.
Greens animal rights spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon recently visited Tasmania to talk to concerned Tasmanians about Greens actions to stop the cruel live export trade, along with federal Denison candidate Anna Reynolds.
In 2012 the government introduced a new Export Supply Chain Assurance Scheme (ESCAS) to better regulate animal welfare, but it has failed and further proof of cruel, distressing treatment of exported animals continues to emerge.
Greens Senator Rachel Siewert also introduced a bill to ban the practice, which the ‘old parties’ failed to support. It has since been reintroduced and is currently being debated – http://lee-rhiannon.greensmps.org.au/banliveexportbill
We’ve also produced a position paper on how to grow the domestic industry in order to remove the present reliance on live exports – http://lee-rhiannon.greensmps.org.au/sites/default/files/121109_position_paper_live_exports_0.pdf
The Australian Greens will keep working with animal welfare campaigners to push for mandatory pre-slaughter stunning in Australia and a ban on live exports. We want to see improved and increased processing in Australia to support local producers and jobs. Processing animals in Australia protects them from inhumane treatment and ensures our laws and standards regarding animal welfare can be upheld.
Together with Lee Rhiannon I’ll be continuing to work towards growing our domestic meat processing industry and ending live exports.
Senator Peter Whish-Wilson Australian Greens Senator for Tasmania
