ANIMAL ACTIVISM
75. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
I refer to the minister's
comments in The West Australian of 24 January that the current penalties
''represent a very real deterrent'' to activist behaviour. We
have recently seen incidents of animal activists clashing with a farmer in
Harvey, protesters interrupting a lawful auction at the Muchea saleyards, and
threats of animal activism in Northam over the past weekend.
(1) Does the
minister stand by her comments that the existing legislation acts as a sufficient
deterrent to activist behaviour?
(2) Will the
minister support the agricultural community in demanding stronger penalties for
those who knowingly break the law to interfere with agricultural production
through trespass or intimidation?
(3) Has the
minister taken any action to ensure that farmers and their families are able to
participate in a legal and economically important industry without fear of
attack by these groups?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
(1)–(3) As
I outlined earlier today in a ministerial statement, we totally reject the ways
in which vegan activists are going about their business. As I have said, we are
working with the Minister for Police, the Western Australian Farmers
Federation, the Pastoralists and Graziers Association and other groups to
ensure that there is an adequate police response when the law has been broken.
As we have said, the penalties for trespass are a $12 000 fine and possible
imprisonment for a year. Obviously, other offences such as stalking might be
invoked. The real issues here are, I think, twofold. It is the implementation
and rapid response that I think will be important. If we were to double or
treble the fine, I do not think it would stop the activists who are out there,
taking the action that they are taking. What is really important for us is to
make sure that when the law has been broken, we have a ready-response
capability within the police force. That is why we are, with the Minister for
Police, setting up this round table.
Probably more importantly, it is
community attitudes that will be very important. As I have said before, these
people are entitled to have their views and to argue a particular point of view
on a particular lifestyle, but I think the majority of Western Australians are
quite angry about or contemptuous of the conduct of these activists—going
into restaurants, screaming at people eating meat and threatening to harass
farmers who are doing what is completely lawful. We will certainly be doing our
bit to make sure that we respond when there has been a breach of the law, but
much of it does not constitute a breach of the law and it is hard to conceive
how much of it could be made unlawful. It is important for us to stand up and
say, ''We support our farmers'', and to engage the community and
make it clear to these activists that they are not winning any hearts and
minds. In fact, they are doing the opposite. They are completely and utterly
turning people off with their conduct. We all have to get together and make it
very clear that we support our farmers and that we do not accept these tactics
of intimidation and harassment.