In her media release the Animal Justice Party candidate for Bega, Coral Anderson, has announced the Party's priorities for the Bega electorate at a joint campaign launch with the AJP candidate for Monaro on Sunday. These included ending logging in native forests, banning puppy farming, banning the use of 1080 poison, and banning all forms of intensive animal production, with a special focus on the battery cage.
Ms Anderson said "One local animal cruelty concern discussed at the campaign launch, was the annual Narooma HuntFest; an annual "family festival", where firearms can be purchased, and attendees are encouraged to hunt as a form of recreation. In 2014 the ESC sought community views on allowing gun sales at HuntFest. 81%, of Shire residents who responded were opposed. A petition opposing HuntFest signed by 931 Shire residents was submitted to and tabled in the NSW Legislative Assembly in the same year."
"Despite community sentiment, Eurobodalla Shire Council licensed this festival, and went so far as to extend HuntFest’s licence until 2022.
"Recreational hunting is a bloodsport which has no place in 21st Century society," Mrs Anderson said. "It should join all the other bloodsports that are already banned under sections 18-21 of the NSW Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The Council may have refused to recognise the wishes of a majority of the community, but State government law overrules local government decisions."
"The Animal Justice Party aims to amend the Act to include a blanket ban on hunting animals for sport," Mrs Anderson explains. "There are other reasons for hunting which we oppose on both ethical and scientific grounds, such as 'management' killing of alleged 'pests', and commercial kangaroo shooting. Those killings are commercially motivated, and banning them will require detailed exposure of the flaws in the reasoning which currently allows them."
"Killing for pleasure is an entirely different matter. It could be banned right now with no harm done to any person or other living thing."
"The AJP will work with any government that is committed to ending all the cruelty inflicted on animals by our society. Animal suffering is not ‘left’ or ‘right’ – it’s simply ‘wrong’ and when we know better, we simply must do better."
For more information, please visit nsw.animaljusticeparty.org.
The Animal Justice Party (AJP) is a political party that formed in 2009 in response to the growing number of voters who feel strongly that much more needs to be done through our parliamentary systems to assist the wellbeing of animals. There is a need for laws and processes that recognise animals’ needs, capabilities and interests, whether they are domestic, farmed or wild. The AJP ensures laws are properly implemented and enforced to achieve genuine justice for animals. In 2015 the AJP made history when Mark Pearson became the first person in Australia to be elected to Parliament on an animal protection platform.
