Trespass report anger

Member for Lowan Emma Kealy has accused the State Government of ignoring farmers seeking protection from illegal animal rights activity.

Ms Kealy said she was furious Labor had failed to support and protect farmers, and instead opted to strengthen protection for activists.

Ms Kealy was responding to a final report in the Inquiry into the impact of animal rights activism on Victorian agriculture.

“The inquiry committee received more than 500 written submissions and chaired seven public hearings, including one in Horsham,” she said.

“Many of the submissions called for stronger farm trespass laws, but the committee has largely ignored this.

“Instead, the recommendations would see our farmers tied up in more red tape, while animal activists would be given a ‘get out of jail free’ card if they trespass on a farm to set up surveillance equipment and claim it is in the public interest.

“Instead of going in to bat for our farmers, Labor MPS have sided with recommendations that only help law-breaking activists to further push their extreme anti-agriculture agenda.”

Ms Kealy said the Liberal-nationals had moved to establish the inquiry after farmers and communities had called for better protections against activists trespassing and stealing livestock.

She added the inquiry was designed to consider the prevalence of unauthorised activity on Victorian farms and its effects; safety and biosecurity risks; and provide recommendations for how the government and industry could improve protection for farmers’ privacy and businesses.

Ms Kealy said report recommendations failed to address evidence showing courts were not meeting community expectations when it came to handling cases of farm trespass and theft.

She said the committee’s Liberalnationals members had to battle for the final report to include a recommendation for on-the-spot fines for farm trespass, something farmers had universally backed.

“Our region is built on the agriculture industry, and our farmers should be able to feel safe and supported as they work to provide food and fibre for our communities, but this report and its recommendations do not give them those assurances. That has to change,” she said.

“The Labor government has months to respond to this report.

“Premier Daniel Andrews needs to seriously rethink some of the recommendations because they will not help our farmers one bit – they will only serve to make dealing with illegal activism even harder.” six