| Wednesday
22nd October 2008
Packed Public
Gallery witness to ‘cruel and inhumane’ Government
Earlier today, a packed public
gallery heard the debate to end battery hen farming in Tasmania. The debate
was brought on at 3:30p.m. by Green’s leader Nick McKim MHA, following
the tabling of one of Tasmania’s biggest ever petitions which had
been collected by members and supports of Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania
(AACT). The Bill was defeated along party lines with only the Tasmanian
Greens supporting the implementation of an assistance package for battery
hen operators to make the transition to free-range.
Benedict Bartl, Battery Hen
co-ordinator for AACT stating:
Despite scientific evidence
demonstrating the inherent cruelty of the battery hen industry and overwhelming
community support for an end to the industry following the tabling of
one of Tasmania’s largest ever petitions, this Government has
once again demonstrated that it is neither clever nor kind. It is a
cruel and inhumane Government that would put the financial interests
of a few ahead of a groundswell of community support.
Benedict Bartl, Battery Hen
co-ordinator for AACT stating:
Whilst the Government spent
today arguing that there is nothing they can do, this is simply untrue.
Approximately half a million dollars worth of battery eggs are purchased
by this Government every year to feed public school students, inmates
and hospital patients. The Australian Capital Territory’s Government
now has a purchasing policy in place in which only free-range eggs are
able to be bought and it is about time that this policy was also introduced
into a clean, green and clever Tasmania.
For further Information:
Benedict Bartl 0417 032 832
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