A vote for the animals?

There are over 500 million animals raised into human care each year in Australia, and not one of them gets a vote. Many Aussies would vote for them if given the opportunity. Help put animals on the political agenda.

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Make Animal Welfare An Election Issue

It's election time, and while you can't turn on the TV, open a newspaper or listen to the radio without hearing a pollie talking about the economy, climate change or refugees, there's one important issue that you're unlikely to hear raised during this election campaign -- animal welfare. Gandhi once said "The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." It's high time animal welfare was added to the political agenda.

For many, animal welfare is a key concern and could influence their vote -- if only the parties were clear on their policies. Sadly, of all the major political parties in Australia only Labor and the Greens even make mention of animal welfare in their party policies/platforms. In Labor's 11 chapter document outlining their national platform, animal welfare receives this one brief mention:

Labor believes that all animals should be treated humanely and will work to achieve better animal welfare through harmonisation of relevant State, Territory and Commonwealth laws and codes to ensure consistent application and enforcement of animal protection statutes. (Chapter 7, Point 188 of Labor's National Platform)

Only the Greens offer a clear statement of their position on key animal welfare issues. Here are a couple of excerpts from their policy (click here to read their full policy on animals):

The Australian Greens believe that:
1. animals have intrinsic value, separate from the needs of humans who have a responsibility to ensure that animals' rights are respected.
2. we have a duty of care to minimise cruelty to animals resulting from human activity.
3. native animals and their habitats must be protected.

The Australian Greens will:
10. end the export of live animals for consumption.
11. phase out intensive farming practices in meat, dairy and egg production.
12. develop an enforceable Australian standard for free-range farming practices for all agricultural animals.
13. ban the use of animals as experimental objects in military and industrial research, and in cosmetics testing.
19. ban the use or display of wild animals, and phase out the use of domesticated animals, in circuses.
21. promote an accurate national labelling system that identifies products that are 'cruelty-free'.
23. foster community education about the needs of animals and our responsibilities to them.

Voters should have the opportunity to consider a party's animal welfare policy in making their decision -- whoever they decide to vote for.

Please help send a message to the Labor, Liberal and National parties that animal welfare is an important election issue, and ask them to make clear their policies on key national animal welfare issues.

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Subject: (please enter a subject line) Dear Decision Maker, (please edit the letter below, or send as-is)

As a voting Australian, I wish to inform you that animal welfare is an important election issue to me. I am disappointed to see that your party has little publicly available information on your animal welfare policies.

Since this information is not currently readily available, I was hoping you could clarify for me your party's position on the following issues, to help me decide my vote this election.

•	Does your party support a ban on live animal exports for slaughter?
•	Does your party support a phase out of factory farming of pigs, egg-laying hens, and chickens for meat?
•	Does your party support a ban on animal testing for industrial and cosmetic products?
•	Does your party support a ban on the commercial killing of kangaroos and wildlife for export?
•	Does your party support an enforceable national labeling standard for method of production for food (eg. organic, free-range)?

Thank you in advance for your response to these questions. I hope that you will make your positions on these and other animal welfare issues readily available for the broader public, as I know many others would also find this information helpful.

Sincerely, Your Name

We will send this e-mail to:

Liberal Party Federal Secretariat
Australian Labor National Secretariat
The Nationals Federal Secretariat

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