Dairy industry
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:10): (115) My question is for the minister representing the Minister for Agriculture today. Like any other mammal, to produce milk female cows and goats must become pregnant and give birth. For the dairy industry, these animals are often kept in a continuous cycle of pregnancy so that their milk can be used for human consumption. Since male calves and kids cannot produce milk, they are considered waste to the dairy industry and are usually slaughtered in the very first week of their lives. Victorian guidelines recommend so-called humane destruction of waste animals to include firearms, captive bolt or blunt force trauma, and investigations across Victoria have found baby animals being routinely bludgeoned with sledgehammers and thrown against walls. Currently this is completely legal. A 2020 parliamentary inquiry recommended a review into the use of blunt force trauma on male baby animals in the dairy industry. The government supported this recommendation. Now three years since the report, can the minister advise on the progress?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:11): I thank Ms Purcell for her question for Minister Tierney. I will endeavour to pass that on to her office and get you a response.
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:11): Thank you, Minister, for referring that on. My supplementary is: the Victorian dairy industry does not report how many animals it kills as waste products. Can the minister confirm how many male calves and kids are killed by Victoria’s dairy industry each year?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:12): I thank Ms Purcell for her supplementary question. It will join her substantive.