ANIMAL ACTIVISM —
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S COMMENTS
622. Hon MICHAEL MISCHIN to the Leader of the House
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the Attorney General's
description of vegan anti–animal cruelty activists as ''mushy
headed'' and his explanation on 23 May 2019 before the Legislative
Assembly estimates committee —
� they are mushy headed in the sense
that they think that, because of where they have arrived for what they regard
as their own personal moral code, this puts them above the law and that, in
prosecution of their own moral code, they are going to shut down an industry.
(1) Does he
regard anti-abortion protesters as mushy headed because their moral code
obliges them to object to abortion?
(2) Does he
regard anti–live sheep transport activists as mushy headed because they
seek to shut down the live sheep transport industry?
(3) Does he
regard the Roe 8 protesters as mushy headed because they sought to prevent
lawful work on the Beeliar wetlands?
(4) Given the
importance that the Attorney General places on preventing vegan activists from
trespassing or interfering with lawful
activities and that the Minister for Health is proposing to restrict the right
of peaceful assembly in respect of those who oppose abortion, will the
Attorney General extend his proposed changes to the law to equally protect all
whose lawful activities are threatened by protesters; and, if not, why not?
The PRESIDENT: Minister,
before I give you the call to respond, I just remind the member who posed the
question of standing order 105, which says —
(1) Questions shall —
(a) be concise; and
(b) not seek an
opinion or a legal interpretation or opinion.
I listened carefully to that
question that you put and a number of parts to that question seek an opinion of
the relevant minister. I say to the minister in response that you do not have
to reply to those parts of the question that were seeking an opinion, but you
may reply to the other parts of the question that were not.
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
Thank you, Madam President, for your
advice.
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. I am pleased to provide the following answer.
(1)–(4) No.