Australian Greens Animal Welfare Spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has said 'Nup to the Cup' and will join millions of Australians who won't be participating in the Melbourne Cup today. A Guardian Essential Poll has found just 8% of Australians have a high interest in horse racing, and almost one third of Australians don't participate in Melbourne Cup due to animal welfare and gambling concerns.

2 November 2018

Prime Minister Scott Morrison MP PO Box 6022
House of Representatives, Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing today asking that you allow a free vote in the House of Representatives on the ‘Animal Export Legislation Amendment (Ending Long-haul Live Sheep Exports) 2018’, which was passed by the Senate on September 10.

Australian Greens Animal Welfare Spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has reiterated her call for a ban on live exports, following the release of the Moss Review which shows that the Department and the Government have failed animals. Senator Faruqi has called for a complete ban on live exports, saying the industry is well beyond saving.

Australian Greens Animal Welfare Spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, will speak at a protest tomorrow afternoon outside the Wentworth Park, to protest the 'Million Dollar Chase' and the $500,000 in taxpayer funds for the event. Senator Faruqi is one of the leading voices against the cruel greyhound racing industry.

When: Saturday, 20th October at 5pm

Where: Millard Reserve 38 Wentworth Park Rd, Glebe, Opposite Wentworth Park.

Australian Greens Animal Welfare Spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has today tabled more than 238,000 signatures from a petition in the Australian Senate calling on the Australian Government to ban live exports. Senator Faruqi has also called on Prime Minister Morrison to allow her bill to ban the worst aspects of the live sheep trade to be debated in the House of Representatives. Her bill passed the Senate last month.

Senator Faruqi said:

Rhinos are in crisis. There are just 67 Javan rhinos, less than 80 Sumatran rhinos and less than 6,000 black rhinos left. We humans have a lot to answer for. The Greens are proud of our role in combating the illegal ivory trade and of being a loud voice for animals across Australian parliaments. Seventy-seven per cent of Australians believe that trading elephant ivory and rhino horn is already illegal in Australia, so it is really disappointing that our laws lag behind community expectations. The ivory trade is not the only threat facing rhinoceros populations.

Today we have seen the release of mortality statistics from the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997 Livestock mortalities during export by sea report for the period 1 January to 30 June 2018, and they make for grim reading. Thousands of sheep are dying as these live export ships ply the seas in their trade of misery. We are still in the northern summer period for the Middle East, where oppressive heat conditions mean temperatures are reaching above 40 degrees.

Koalas in New South Wales face extinction by 2050. This is the harsh reality that we are grappling with today. This is no accident. It is due to the continued, insistent effort of the New South Wales Liberal-National government in pushing these species to the brink through badly planned infrastructure, through logging of native forests and through their ecocidal land-clearing laws. This is a matter of public importance because we are losing an iconic species, and we know exactly why that is happening.

Australian Greens Animal Welfare Spokesperson and Senator for NSW, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has called the Federal Government’s decision to approve a live export shipment of 30,000 sheep on the MV Maysora in the Middle Easter Summer an absolute disgrace. She has called on Liberal MPs in the Lower House who are supportive of her bill to end live sheep exports to the region to put their money where their mouth is and vote for it.

Senator FARUQI (New South Wales) (12:00): I, and also on behalf of Senator Hinch, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) that tens of millions of dollars in public money is handed over to the greyhound racing and gambling industry each year by states and territories in prize money, for building new tracks and in tax breaks,

(ii) Greyhounds Australasia estimates that the industry is responsible for the unnecessary deaths of anywhere between 13 000 and 17 000 healthy greyhounds a year, and