Wednesday, 4 February 2026

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:07): (1199) My question is for the minister representing the Minister for Agriculture. The latest statistics on animal testing in Victoria have just been released, and they reveal that nearly 1.5 million animals were researched and tested on in Victoria in the last reporting year. Animal testing is notoriously secretive and occurs behind closed doors and in facilities that many Victorians would not even know exist. While reporting of data is welcome, it is consistently vague at best and exact species are not always listed. Curiously, there is also a column with numbers for ‘exotic zoo’ mammals but without any individual species listed. According to this data, 64 so-called ‘exotic zoo’ mammals were tested on, in addition to 8765 native mammals and 792 animals described purely as ‘other domestic’ animals. Can the minister please advise what exactly an ‘exotic zoo mammal’ is and what tests were undertaken on them?

 Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (12:08): I thank Ms Purcell for her question and her ongoing interest in terms of animal welfare. I will refer this matter to the Minister for Agriculture for her response.

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:08): Thank you, Minister, for referring that on. This data highlighted that very few species were spared from the horrors of animal testing in Victoria. In addition to the almost 420,000 mice and more than 311,000 native birds, species such as dogs, cats, wombats, echidnas and koalas were tested on, so too were dolphins, whales, seals, turtles and even tortoises. Can the minister please outline what tests were undertaken on whales, dolphins and seals and why?

 Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (12:09): Again, I thank Ms Purcell for her supplementary question, which will be forwarded on to the Minister for Agriculture for a response.