Last Friday the Panel dispatched lengthy and detailed letters opposing Senator Chris Back’s Criminal Code Amendment (Animal Protection) Bill 2015 to all Federal Labor MPs and relevant Senate cross-benchers. A copy of the panel’s submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport may be found here (submission 240): http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Rural_and_Regional_Affairs_and_Transport/Animal_Protection_Bill/Submissions.

The Senate referred Senator Back’s Bill to this Committee for consideration and report back to the Senate in May 2015.

Greens spokesperson on animal welfare, Senator Lee Rhiannon, has publicly campaigned against the Ag-gag laws.

Senator Back’s Bill, under the guise of purported animal protection, will shut down the exposure of systemic and widespread cruelty, such as that highlighted on the Four Corners expose of the greyhound industry in February this year. The Panel publicly called for the greyhound industry to be shut down as a result.

The interview with Panel Chair Joana Fuller on the ABC 7.30 Program can be seen here:
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4182750.htm.