3rd Dec 2018, 4:27 PM – Senate Motions - Greyhound Racing - Cease export if no 'passport'

The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi (NSW), which means it succeeded. Motions like these don't make any legal changes on their own but can be politically influential because they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Yat Yuen Greyhound racing track at Macau, known as the Canidrome, has been described by Grey2k as a "death camp for dogs" where tens of thousands of greyhounds have been killed over the last 50 years,

(ii) in 2013, Greyhounds Australasia blacklisted Macau on animal welfare grounds and stopped issuing 'greyhound passports',

(iii) between the start of 2013 and the end of 2015, at least 590 greyhounds were approved for export by the Australian Government to Macau, against the wishes of animal welfare organisations and Greyhounds Australasia,

(iv) following the closure of the Canidrome in July 2018, hundreds of dogs are waiting to be rescued, many of whom originated from Australia, and

(v) the Australian Government still allows the export of racing greyhounds to countries that are blacklisted by Greyhounds Australasia;

(b) recognises the Commonwealth Government's role in allowing the export of Australian greyhounds to Macau, and its obligation to assist in the rehoming of these greyhounds; and

(c) calls on the Commonwealth Government to cease issuing export documents for racing greyhounds without greyhound passports.