Bid to lift kangaroo ban targeted
An activist criticizes efforts to roll back a state ban on products from the animal.
SACRAMENTO — An animal-rights activist has filed a complaint with the state ethics agency against the Australian government, alleging that it did not properly register its lobbying activities as it has sought to eliminate California’s ban on kangaroo products.
The decades-old ban, which has been suspended since 2007, is set to go back into effect at the beginning of next year, affecting the availability of soccer cleats and gloves made from kangaroo leather.
Although the Australian government opposes the import ban, it hasn’t registered with the state as a lobbyist employer. Lauren Ornelas, a Sonoma County animal activist who has long been involved in support for the kangaroo ban, has filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission, alleging that the Australian government is providing financial backing for a lobbyist.
A business group, the Kangaroo Industries Assn. of Australia, hired the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips law firm in May and paid it nearly $45,000 so far this year.
Ornelas’ complaint cites a document from the Australian Department of Agriculture that states the government paid about $100,000 to the industry group for the purposes of hiring Manatt to lobby against the kangaroo ban.
Because the government appears to have spent more than $5,000 to influence the Legislature, Ornelas said it should have registered as a lobbyist employer.
The Australian government, and a lobbyist for the Kangaroo Industries Assn. of Australia, did not immediately return calls for comment.
Along with companies that want to roll back the prohibition, Australian officials argue that it does not differentiate between species of kangaroo. Although some types of the animal remain protected, others are not, and the government annually culls the population of kangaroos that are particularly large in number.
“The Australian government wishes to grow our strong economic ties by removing unnecessary trade barriers that are not grounded on science,” Kim Beazley, Australian ambassador to the U.S., said in a May statement.
Animal-rights activists are mounting their own effort to keep the ban in place. They promote a website, launched by a coalition of scientists and researchers, that argues the commercial killing of kangaroos is unsustainable and cruel.
With Sacramento’s deadline for introducing new bills this year long past, the activists are bracing for potential last-minute legislative maneuvering — gutting an existing bill and replacing it with language to lift the ban, for example.
“We’ve just seen it ... time and time again,” Ornelas said. “It just seems unlikely that they’re not going to try to do something.”