29th Nov 2017, 4:06 PM – Senate Motions - Animal Welfare - Lift standards

The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Victorian Senator Derryn Hinch also on behalf of Tasmanian Senator Lisa Singh (Labor) and NSW Senaotr Lee Rhiannon (Greens), which means it passed. Motions like these don't make any legal changes on their own, but are politically influential since they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) 7.30 recently aired footage of hens having their feet torn off and being boiled alive at the Star Poultry Supply slaughterhouse in the suburb of Keysborough, Victoria, in early 2017,

(ii) this footage was secretly recorded by animal rights campaigners, and showed practices which regulator PrimeSafe had failed to identify in regular audits, and

(iii) a number of cases of cruelty to animals in Australian abattoirs have been identified in Australia through covert recording;

(b) acknowledges that:

(i) this year, both the United Kingdom and France have adopted policies to implement CCTV in all abattoirs to deter animal cruelty in abattoirs and support regulators to audit effectively,

(ii) New South Wales (NSW) has mandated the appointment of animal welfare officers in all abattoirs to lift the standard of care for animals, and

(iii) all Australian consumers have an interest in animal welfare, and are entitled to feel confident that meat and poultry on Australian supermarket shelves has not arrived there by way of torture and abuse; and

(c) calls on the Government to:

(i) urgently advocate for CCTV use in all abattoirs at the next Agricultural Ministers' meeting and at the Council of Australian Governments,

(ii) urgently advocate for the national adoption of NSW's policy of appointing animal welfare officers in all Australian abattoirs,

(iii) strengthen the proposed draft Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry to safeguard poultry welfare at abattoirs and on-farm, and

(iv) strongly encourage state governments to respond to evidence of animal cruelty with strong sanctions and prosecution.