Policy A5: Animals

Principles

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.

Goals

The Australian Greens want:

4. the protection of native animals, and the restoration and extension of their current natural habitats.
5. the most humane and effective means available to be used in the control of introduced and pest species, including humane population management methods.
6. an end to cruel and unnecessary animal experimentation.
7. increased community understanding of the impacts of consumer choices on animal welfare and on the environment.

Measures

The Australian Greens will:

8. strengthen national animal welfare legislation that prohibits cruelty and ensures that acts of cruelty are treated as criminal offences.
9. legislate to protect the welfare of agricultural animals, including conditions of transport and captivity.
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.
14. ban genetic engineering involving animals, including reproductive cloning.
15. ban the importation of animal products produced by methods which do not accord with Australian standards.
16. ban the importation of animals for zoos, except where the importation will assist the overall conservation of the species.
17. ban the exportation of animals to jurisdictions where levels of legislative protection are below those of Australia.
18. work for improved global conservation of habitat for endangered species through Australia’s trade, diplomatic and aid relations.
19. ban the use or display of wild animals, and phase out the use of domesticated animals, in circuses.
20. ensure that trade agreements do not undermine Australian animal welfare standards.
21. promote an accurate national labelling system that identifies products that are ‘cruelty-free’.
22. support the research, development and implementation of more humane methods of introduced pest and introduced species management and control.
23. foster community education about the needs of animals and our responsibilities to them.
24. support a ban on commercial whaling in accordance with the Australian Greens Policy on Marine and Coastal Environments.

Issued: June 2008