Page 1806 - Week 05 - Thursday, 16 May 2019
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MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee—Minister for City Services, Minister for Community Services and Facilities, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Roads) (11.33): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
I am proud to introduce the Animal Welfare Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 to the Assembly today. The ACT community strongly values animals, and this bill reflects their intrinsic value. In an Australian first, this bill recognises animals as sentient beings as well as introducing a broad range of reforms to strengthen animal welfare laws. The bill as a whole provides a strong, contemporary and Australian-leading legislative framework for protecting the welfare of all animals in the ACT. This bill will establish the Animal Welfare Act 1992 as a contemporary piece of legislation that aligns with community expectations and best practice.
I undertook a community consultation process on the draft bill late last year and into early 2019, and this made it very clear just how important this issue is for Canberrans. It is essential that Canberra’s animal welfare laws reflect the views and values of the community in how we should manage and care for our domestic animals, livestock and wildlife. This bill will improve the quality of life for animals in the ACT and delivers on a key commitment in the animal welfare and management strategy 2017-22. Over the past two years our government has been working to reform legislation around domestic animals, and this bill represents the completion of legislative reviews for animal management and welfare in the ACT consistent with the strategy.
We also know that animal welfare laws work to support our dangerous dog laws, which are also best practice and the strongest in the country, following amendments made by our government in 2017 and 2018. These new animal welfare laws reflect the link between dogs that are well cared for and responsible owners and a safer community. The bill I am presenting today will protect and promote the welfare of animals, prevent and deter cruelty to animals and respond appropriately to animal welfare abuses. This is not only a step forward for the ACT as a territory; this is of national significance. It will establish the ACT as the first state or territory in Australia to recognise the sentience of animals in law.
This means that we as a community accept that animals are sentient beings with intrinsic value that can feel pain and emotions and are deserving of an acceptable quality of life. This is based on science and recognises that modern animal welfare is about considering how an animal is coping mentally and physically with the conditions in which it lives. The objects of the bill have been updated to reflect this position and recognise that people have a duty to care for animals.
This bill is comprehensive, so I will highlight the key and most important features for the Assembly today. One of the key features of the bill is a proportionate and enforceable regulatory framework with stronger penalties and enforcement powers. Importantly, the bill proposes an escalating enforcement framework that will allow our inspectors and the RSPCA to issue on-the-spot fines for more minor duty of care or cruelty offences, in addition to the existing serious offences in the act. This will
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