Page 2 - National Poultry Newspaper

Activists challenging the right to farm
Poultry Industry Calendar of Events
2019
FEB 18 - 20 – Australian Poultry Science Symposium, Sydney, NSW www.apss2019.com.au
FEB 19 - 20 – EvokeAg Food Farm Future, Melbourne, VIC www. evokeag.com
FEB 20 – Alltech Round Table Dinner, Sydney, NSW Call Damien Kelly 0448 273 114
FEB 28 – World’s Poultry Science Association Qld Forum, Gatton QLD E: wpsaqld@gmail.com
APR 17 - 18 – Poultry Symposium for Production & Processing, Arkansas, US www.thepoultryfederation.com/ events/4-production-symposium
MAY 19 - 21 – One 19 Alltech Ideas Conference, Lexington, Kentucky US www.one.alltech.com
JUN 10 - 13 – European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition, AmberExpo in Gdansk, Poland www.espn2019.com
JUN 12-13 – Australian Biosecurity Symposium, Gold Coast, QLD www. biosym.com.au
JUN 13 – Entries close – Royal Melbourne Poultry Show, The Grand Pavilion, Melbourne, VIC www.rasv. com.au/royal-melbourne-poultry- show
SEP 16-20 –World Veterinary Poultry Association Congress, Bangkok, Thailand www.wvpac2019.com
How to supply event details: Send all details to National Poultry Newspaper, PO Box 387, Cleveland, Qld 4163, call 07 3286 1833 fax: 07 3821 2637, email: design@poultrynews.com.au
poultrynews.com.au
07 3286 1833
THE anarchic view that ‘one has a moral respon- sibility to disobey unjust laws’ is one that many animal rights activists use to justify trespassing on farmers’ properties and wilfully disrupting and creating unaccepta- ble risks to businesses.
No matter how valid some may believe their cause, they do not hold some sort of privileged position above every other citizen.
Animal rights charity Aussie Farms has taken this hard-line view, re- cently publishing the loca- tion and contact details of farmers around Australia.
The group has accused intensive animal farmers and abattoirs of animal exploitation and is encour- aging people to submit in- formation, photos, video and documents relating to the addresses disclosed on the interactive website.
Not only are these accu- sations inaccurate for the clear majority of farmers, they show no respect for the rights of others and knowingly encourage un-
lawful behaviour.
An organisation that
conducts itself like this should not receive the ben- efits afforded to a charity and it was encouraging to see Agriculture Minister David Littleproud write to the Charities Commis- sion asking it to consider revoking Aussie Farms’ charity status.
The radical and un- justified actions of this website invade farmers’ privacy, threaten the wel- fare of their animals, pose unacceptable risks to their businesses and have im- plications for Australian food security.
There have already been several incidents of
animal activists entering Queensland poultry farms without permission, caus- ing much distress to these farmers and their animals.
Last year, animal activ- ists were charged with stealing after illegally en- tering a chicken farm and removing 13 birds.
A few months ago, 80 protesters raided a Mount Cotton chicken process- ing facility, causing more than $50,000 in business losses and a number of birds to die in the process, and the next protest could be only days away.
Besides the emotional and financial toll on these farm businesses, the bio- security risks to the whole
sector are immense. Concerningly, this web- site is likely to increase
trespassing.
Queensland Farmers’
Federation and poultry member industries have been working with the Queensland Government for some time to better ad- dress these issues, but this new tool for activists has now made government ac- tion urgent.
For many farmers, their property is their business, their workplace and their family home and it is time governments took a harder stance against the actions of animal activists and ensure the legal pro- tections and punishments reflect the crimes.
Disobeying ‘unjust laws’
is still breaking the law. But unless we have greater deterrents, the un- fortunate reality is these sorts of incidents will
continue.
Greater protections for
farmers’ basic right to pri- vacy and safety in their own homes, businesses and workplaces are clear- ly needed, but legislative amendments take time.
So, for the immediate future, poultry farmers are encouraged to check if their name and address features on the Aussie Farms map.
If it is included, request directly for Aussie Farms to remove your details and complain formally to the Australian Information Commissioner.
A young person experienced a virtual reality chicken as part of poultry job ready training.
What’s in store for 2019
☛ from P1
cilitating a mentoring event designed to get the whippersnappers and dinosaurs talking.
This will take place during the conference in a ‘speed dating’ for- mat and promises to be an ‘eggciting’ event!
We look forward to what this year will
bring and the many exciting programs we have starting, includ- ing ‘meet the farmer’, which launches at the end of February.
If you would like to get involved or have any ideas to share, please contact us at poultryhub@une.edu. au
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by TRAVIS TOBIN CEO
The ‘Aussie Farms’ map.
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Page 2 – National Poultry Newspaper, February 2019
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