Animal welfare
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (13:31): After 35 years of the outdated and primitive Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986, the time has now come for an overhaul of the protection provided to animals and the standards to which we hold ourselves as well. The new bill provides us with an opportunity to reimagine animal welfare consistent with our developed technology, our ecological understanding and the community’s long-held expectations of animal welfare. While the draft is a step in the right direction, it continues to forsake protections for those who endure systemic cruelty: the industry animals in farming, racing and experimentation. The draft recognises the sentience of animals, yet its selective reduction of industry animals as well as the piecemeal application of mutilation practices are irreconcilable with this principle. Battery cages, mulesing and CO2 pig gassing did not belong in 1986, and they still do not in 2024. The future of our beloved pets and industry and wild animals is now in the hands of Victorians, with submissions and regulation surveys open until 8 March. Now is our chance to implement binding bans on sow stalls, chick maceration and animal testing. So let us be ambitious in our compassion. Let us prove once and for all that we are indeed the progressive state.