Federal Election 2019: Meet the Animal Justice Party

Summary

Policies & Commentary

I reviewed the Animal Justice Party back in November for the Victorian State Election, so once again, I’ll just be reviewing recent articles from their news page.

Or I would, if they news page had anything more recent than July last year.  Their website is surprisingly disorganised, given how organised they are about other things.  Oh, for heavens’ sake, and their link to their own Facebook page doesn’t work.  If any AJP members are reading this, you might want to give your webmaster a heads-up.

Anyway, for want of better alternatives, let’s have a brief look at AJP’s recent Facebook adventures.

• Andy Meddick, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, gave a speech in Parliament in response to the National Party’s motion requiring the Economy and Infrastructure Committee to inquire into, consider and report, on the effectiveness of Victoria’s current legislation in terms of deterrent, penalty and remedy for illegal, on-farm animal activist activity.  Meddick says that activists working undercover are essential for exposing cruelty on farms, leading to legislative page.  He views this as whistleblowing, and thus legitimate business.  He says that activists are working to expose legislated violence, and have ‘no intention to scare intimidate or harrass farmers or their families,’ and that the intention ‘is always to reveal cruel practices in an industry with no public scrutiny.  Inconsistency in laws between farm animals and pets.’  He points out that while animal activists have never harmed farmers, they have been subject to threats of violence, and he is pretty cross about activists being compared to terrorists.  My view is that while he makes some good points, he is also being a bit disingenuous in expecting that farmers wouldn’t feel threatened by having their addresses published online (especially given the way some activists speak about farmers in the comments of those posts).  I’d also note that while farmers may not have been physically harmed, many have had animals stolen, and some small farms have been forced to close down their businesses as a result.  Whistleblowing is important; activism is important; and I don’t think the National Party’s motion should have been supported – but it’s not helpful to pretend that every single animal activist is peace-loving and non-threatening and that every farm using animals is wantonly cruel.
• There is a meme opposing horse racing
• They are very pleased that the EPA have taken control of the toxic waste dump at Lara, which apparently was Meddick’s idea.
• They want more support for plastic recycling.
• They are super excited about the Ban Live Export Rally, and have a lot to say about the need to ban live exports.
• They shared a news story from Channel 9 about a duck hunter deliberately running into a protester with his car, which they feel is a reflection on the character of duck hunters in general.

And that’s as far as Facebook will let me get, but I think it’s pretty reflective of where the AJP stands.  I do think they are right about duck hunting, live exports, and horse racing.  But I’m not so sure about their views on farming.  Unfortunately, the farms that seem to be targeted for the purposes of ‘liberating’ animals tend to be the smaller ones (which presumably have less security than big commercial ventures), which are often the ones who are trying to be more free range and humane, and have a more marginal profit as a result.  This seems counterproductive.  Undercover activism and whistleblowing is one thing; vandalism and theft is another. Calls for transparency and CCTV on farms, and reviewing legislation around animal cruelty strike me as far better approaches.

Eurovision Theme Song as determined by me, very objectively