Disclaimer: The information displayed on this website is the result of an independent review. Animal Care Australia is a non-partisan organisation. Animal Care Australia does not have any commercial, financial or political affiliation with any party and the ratings of organisations/political parties, does not constitute endorsement by Animal Care Australia and is not intended to imply, directly or indirectly, that those organisations and parties endorse or have any affiliation or influence with Animal Care Australia.
As we all know ANIMAL RIGHTS IS NOT ANIMAL WELFARE. Sadly Tasmania's political parties and independent representatives either have little (or no) animal welfare policies, while those with animal related policies are predominantly animal rights policies AND NOT animal welfare. The inclusion of the animal rights agenda in many of those Parties' policies below highlights just how far they have hoodwinked the two major parties during the current term of government.Note: For mobile & tablet users, this page is best viewed in ‘landscape’
So, how do you decide on who is the best Party or Candidate to support you and your pets?
From a political perspective Tasmania is a different State to the others. This election result will see an additional 10 members added to the Legislative Assembly, potentially providing any party with the ability to control how parliament will be run. This is dangerous especially when we consider the strength of the parties with animal rights policies. Recent polling suggests the Liberals would lose the majority but Labor also wouldn’t get anywhere near the 18 seats it requires to govern in majority, with maybe an extra Green or two, and more independent MPs elected than what was in 2021. How you vote will be of utmost importance if animal WELFARE is one of your deciding factors.
Ensuring the right vote for the ‘others’ is crucial to ensuring your rights to keep, breed and work with pets and animals can be maintained.
Remember, when Voting: In Tasmania to cast a valid vote you have to number at least five boxes, with your favourite candidate getting a number 1 in their box, and so on. If you are really excited you can number all the boxes. For more info, check out the Tasmanian Electoral Commission website.
For the purpose of not having to repeat & clarify, ‘animal welfare policies’ relates to pet, companion animals, or policies directly affecting exhibited (on display) animals. ACA’s purview does not include animals involved the racing industry, until those animals are rehomed as companions.
Firstly, looking at the Parties’ online animal welfare policies, ACA has found Labor, the Jacquie Lambie Network, and the Independents all do not have any listed policies relating to pets and companion animals. Though we acknowledge Labor publicly stated it supports pets in rentals.
The Liberal Party has two policies related to pets and companion animals Those being:
- Renters right to have pets: https://tas.liberal.org.au/unlocking-more-affordable-rentals-tasmanians-strong-plan-tasmanian-renters
- Provide an additional $3.2 million to the RSPCA to boost animal welfare compliance: https://tas.liberal.org.au/strong-plan-back-our-agriculture-sector
The Greens Party has policies labelled as animal rights – and they are actually animal rights with several directly related to pets, with a specific highlight of funding animal rights organisations. https://tasgreensmps.org/policy/
The Animal Justice Party has a number of policies aimed at expanding animal rights, and restricting, and limiting the ownership of pets and companion animals. As usual the most common words used in their policies are: ‘end’ and ‘ban’. While we all may like the sound of many of these, experience from the other Australian States tells us the devil is in the details. The most concerning policy is to ‘abolish the property status of animals’ meaning the animals are no longer your property. (Think about that carefully). https://tas.animaljusticeparty.org/tas_elections
There are a number of Independents running in each of the electoral zones. None of these have pet and companion animal welfare policies available for us to review or consider. It would be best if you contacted them directly and asked specific questions relating to your circumstances and needs.
Ordinarily ACA would rate the parties according to their animal welfare policies – given there aren’t any ‘real’ animal welfare policies – we are unable to do that.
To keep in mind: Both major parties have relied heavily on advice provided by the RSPCA and have blatantly ignored consultation from other key stakeholders. Several of those stakeholders have attempted to highlight the flawed and misleading advice being provided by the RSPCA – to no avail. Yet they support the RSPCA without question. That is concerning for ACA.
For information about Animal Welfare: https://www.animalcareaustralia.org.au/aca-welfare-policies/
For information about Animal Rights and Animal Protection: https://www.animalcareaustralia.org.au/aca-welfare-policies/animal-welfare-vs-animal-rights/
Why does ACA not support this current use of ‘animal protection’?
Because animal protection is generally seen to be the combination of both animal welfare and animal rights.
Why is that a problem?
Because the two are like oil and water – they don’t mix. You cannot have legislation (law) that continues to allow animals under human care/ownership while the animal rights is advocating to liberate animals from being used by humans at all. The term ‘Animal Protection’ on its own is oxymoronic.
