We won’t just expose the Live Export Industry- we will end it.
We can end Live ExportThe live animal export industry regulator has granted an exemption for an exporter to travel in the blistering heat that could see Australian sheep cooked alive. Here in NSW we have been alerted to a new atrocity- with the Western Sydney Airport opening in 2026, the Live Export industry could expand in NSW with air travel. I know we are all feeling helpless. I know it feels like it couldn’t get any worse. But history shows us that the Government’s brutal and continued support for a cruel and heinous industry will be its undoing. With each vile decision to ignore animal suffering and animal sentience, the industry and government lose the trust of the people. We won’t just expose this industry- we will end it. Enough. #BanLiveExport
Posted by Emma Hurst - Animal Justice Party MP on Tuesday, June 16, 2020
We Will Not Relax Gun Laws In NSW
We will not relax gun laws in NSWThe Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party put up an ammendment to relax gun laws. The Shooters lost 😎
Posted by Emma Hurst - Animal Justice Party MP on Tuesday, June 9, 2020
In Opposition Of Gone Fishing Day
In Opposition Of Gone Fishing DayYesterday I stood in opposition to a Notice of Motion in support of Gone Fishing Day because fish feel pain, they are self-aware, they remember, they build relationships and exhibit emotional responses. Deliberately inflicting pain and suffering on these sentient animals should not be celebrated - especially when the fishing industry kills more individual animals than any other form of animal slaughter. No matter if you are skin, scales, fur or feathers, native or non-native, rodent, or fish, or cow, or dog, I will protect you. I stand by you. I will fiercely defend you. It is our party that will keep that promise, and we will never, ever let you down. Fishing is not a sport, it is animal cruelty.
Posted by Emma Hurst - Animal Justice Party MP on Wednesday, June 3, 2020
The Animal Agribusiness Industry Is Putting Us At Risk Of Deadly Disease
The animal agribusiness industry is putting us at risk of deadly diseaseThe animal agribusiness industry has a secret: To keep animals alive in squalid conditions and to make them grow faster, they pump animals full of antibiotics. This regular antimicrobial use can cause superbugs and human antibiotic-resistance - putting both human and non-human lives at extreme risk of deadly disease outbreaks. Last week I called this industry out in Parliament and highlighted the drastic health risks associated with all systems of confining, slaughtering and consuming animals.
Posted by Emma Hurst - Animal Justice Party MP on Thursday, June 4, 2020
Ban 1080 poison in NSW
Ban 1080 poison in NSWWe have called on the House to ban #1080 poison in New South Wales. 1080 poison causes a slow and agonising death to any animal unfortunate enough to ingest it. They will experience vomiting, anxiety, disorientation and shaking, followed by frenzied running, screaming fits, and seizures which can last up to 48 hours before their eventual death. 1080 is responsible for the deaths of countless wild native and non-native animals. Australia is one of the last places in the world that still use this horrendous and dangerous poison. It is time to change that. #ban1080
Posted by Emma Hurst - Animal Justice Party MP on Thursday, June 4, 2020
In Support Of Our Frontline Public Sector Workers
In support of our frontline public sector workersLast night we voted to stop the wage freeze on our frontline workers. Our nurses, ambos, fire fighters, and many others- we will always stand with you. We also took the opportunity to give the Government better ways they can cut spending: Stop buying millions of dangerous, cruel 1080 poison baits to kill animals that are just trying to survive. Stop funding animal “abusement” industries like greyhound racing, horse racing, circuses, dolphinariums and recreational fishing that use animal cruelty as entertainment. Stop propping up dying animal agribusinesses that the community no longer supports. To our frontline public sector workers, and everyone involved in fighting COVID-19, I say thank you. Thank you for getting us through this pandemic as safely as possible. We are proud to say the disallowance motion passed.
Posted by Emma Hurst - Animal Justice Party MP on Tuesday, June 2, 2020
To Be Debated in Parliament: Animal Ag = Zoonotic Disease Risks
To be Debated in Parliament: Animal Ag = Zoonotic Disease RisksThe confinement, slaughter and consumption of animals has been linked to serious zoonotic diseases - E.Coli, salmonella, mad cow disease, avian influenza, swine flu, and COVID-19. There are drastic health risks associated with the consumption of animals. I will take this issue to debate- I wonder what excuses the Government will come up with?
Posted by Emma Hurst - Animal Justice Party MP on Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Deforestation is a killer in more ways than one
Deforestation is a killer in more ways than oneAnimal agribusiness is a killer. Not just of the millions of farmed animals imprisoned by the industry, but of the millions of other wild animals whose homes are destroyed to make way for farmed animal slaughter. 3/4 of Australia’s threatened plant and animal species have habitat loss listed as one of the main reasons they are being driven to extinction. Much of this habitat loss is to make way for animal farms. Deforestation by animal agribusiness has created a crisis for animals, the environment and our climate. But I have a plan. A plan for a future of sustainable, plant-based farming that protects animals and the forests they call home. A plan that would make NSW a leader on climate action. This is just the beginning - watch this space.
Posted by Emma Hurst - Animal Justice Party MP on Thursday, July 9, 2020
SO52 Regarding Get Wild Animal Experiences
SO52 regarding Get Wild Animal ExperiencesRecently a man who stabbed, beat and impaled a dog to a tree had his convictions overturned on appeal. Yesterday we passed an SO52 that sought documents concerning his company’s previous interactions with the DPI. These documents will reveal the scrutiny, or lack thereof, the DPI has had over this facility pursuant to its obligations under the Exhibited Animals Act. Australians hate animal cruelty, and we need to have a no tolerance stance against those that intentionally hurt animals. Anyone who beats and impales a dog is a risk to the community and to other animals. Soon we will know if this man should have been on the Government’s radar long ago. Sign our petition calling for better animal protection laws: https://www.emmahurstmp.com/tougher_penalties_petition
Posted by Emma Hurst - Animal Justice Party MP on Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Covid-19 and Animal Agribusiness Adjournment Speech
The global outbreak of COVID-19 has caused the deaths of almost 100 Australians and many more people around the world. It has changed the way we live, the way we work and the way we interact with each other. The coronavirus is suspected to have come from wet markets, where animals are held in filthy and stressful conditions. But it is not the first zoonotic disease to come from animals forced to live in filthy conditions. According to the United States of America Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 75 per cent of new and emerging infectious diseases come from animals. This should come as no surprise to us—think of bird flu, mad cow disease, severe acute respiratory disease, swine flu and Middle East respiratory syndrome. Every major outbreak over the past 50 years has been a zoonotic disease caused by the confinement and consumption of animals. It hardly seems a coincidence that "coronavirus" is an anagram of "carnivorous".
Before we point the finger of blame overseas, we need to take a serious look in our own backyard. In Australia we conduct the largest land-based slaughter of wildlife in the world—the commercial kangaroo meat industry. Every day wild kangaroos are shot in the remote bushland, decapitated, and dragged onto the back of trucks and transported up to eight hours before being refrigerated. Joeys are bludgeoned to death or left to starve. This industry has been linked to serious diseases like toxoplasmosis and salmonella. The risk does not end with Australia's wildlife trade. Animal agribusiness operations all over the country have thousands of animals living in cramped confinement and squalor. Pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys and other animals are often forced to live in their own waste and the built-up excrement from thousands of other animals. In these conditions, they become the perfect vectors for disease.
For years scientists have warned that the animal agribusiness industry is a breeding ground for new antibiotic-resistant "superbugs". The living environments for animals at animal agribusiness facilities are so revolting that these animals are regularly fed antibiotics just to keep them alive. This regular antibiotic use can cause superbugs. It also causes human antibiotic resistance. While viruses like COVID-19 cannot be treated with antibiotics, there are many health complications that can be treated with them, but our increased use in animal agribusiness and secondary consumption from eating animal flesh is building a resistance to this treatment and risking human health. With those kinds of putrid conditions it is no wonder we have seen clusters of the coronavirus at a meatworks in Victoria, as well as similar facilities in the United States, Canada, Spain and Ireland.
Now more than ever we need to recognise that the disrespectful treatment of animals has consequences. There is no need to continue to support outdated, cruel, environmentally disastrous and human health risking animal agribusiness practices. The future of food is plant based. As Australia isone of the fastest growing markets for plant-based proteins, we have the unique opportunity to be at the forefront of this change.