Tuesday, 18 February 2025

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (13:00): (1375) My constituency question is for the Minister for Agriculture. Rodeos have been held across the summer in Northern Victoria, with each event sparking an outcry from my constituents over the horrific cruelty and blatant breaches of rodeo regulations. Whittlesea rodeo will be taking place this weekend on Crown land, with Shepparton following on 8 March. The ACT has already completely banned rodeos due to their unjustifiable cruelty, the inability to effectively regulate these events and the lack of public support. I wrote to the minister on 15 January requesting that inspectorate officers attend the Bundalong rodeo on 26 January following reports received by my office of alleged breaches of animal welfare, weight requirements of steers and drug dealing and use at the event. I never received a reply. Can my constituents expect there to be inspectorate officers attending these upcoming rodeos in my electorate of Northern Victoria?