❓ Hon Bruce Donaldson asks the Minister for Agriculture and Forestry to commit to supporting the live animal export trade given the RSPCA's opposition. Hon Kim Chance affirms the government's support and acknowledges the need to better inform the public about the trade's benefits.
AnsweredQoN 352Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
Given the recent statement by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on the export of live animals, in which it indicated an agenda of working towards the stopping of this trade, will the minister give an unequivocal commitment to the house that the Gallop government will give its total support to the continuation of this trade and to informing the wider community of the benefits to both the farming sector and the economy of Western Australia from this trade? Hon KIM CHANCE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for the question. The answer is yes. I can give such an unequivocal answer because we have already done that. I concede that we need to go further. The government has made its point, but the live export trade still suffers from a massive misunderstanding of the facts. Those facts need to be better understood. If people choose to oppose the trade after being given those facts, so be it, because they will have made a judgment on the facts. I fear that they are not in a position to make a judgment on the facts at the moment. I am not critical of opponents of the trade. I think they are wrong, but I think that they have made their judgment on faulty information. I will outline the government’s position on the RSPCA for the benefit of some members who may not have heard it, although I acknowledge that I have once answered that part of the question. The RSPCA has a multitude of roles. The government supports it across the vast bulk of those roles. There is one role in which we have a difference of opinion; that is, on the question of the live export industry. However, that in no way detracts from the government’s view that its investment in the RSPCA is very good and that the RSPCA does a magnificent job for the people and animals of Western Australia.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for the question. The answer is yes. I can give such an unequivocal answer because we have already done that. I concede that we need to go further. The government has made its point, but the live export trade still suffers from a massive misunderstanding of the facts. Those facts need to be better understood. If people choose to oppose the trade after being given those facts, so be it, because they will have made a judgment on the facts. I fear that they are not in a position to make a judgment on the facts at the moment. I am not critical of opponents of the trade. I think they are wrong, but I think that they have made their judgment on faulty information. I will outline the government’s position on the RSPCA for the benefit of some members who may not have heard it, although I acknowledge that I have once answered that part of the question. The RSPCA has a multitude of roles. The government supports it across the vast bulk of those roles. There is one role in which we have a difference of opinion; that is, on the question of the live export industry. However, that in no way detracts from the government’s view that its investment in the RSPCA is very good and that the RSPCA does a magnificent job for the people and animals of Western Australia.
I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for the question. The answer is yes. I can give such an unequivocal answer because we have already done that. I concede that we need to go further. The government has made its point, but the live export trade still suffers from a massive misunderstanding of the facts. Those facts need to be better understood. If people choose to oppose the trade after being given those facts, so be it, because they will have made a judgment on the facts. I fear that they are not in a position to make a judgment on the facts at the moment. I am not critical of opponents of the trade. I think they are wrong, but I think that they have made their judgment on faulty information. I will outline the government’s position on the RSPCA for the benefit of some members who may not have heard it, although I acknowledge that I have once answered that part of the question. The RSPCA has a multitude of roles. The government supports it across the vast bulk of those roles. There is one role in which we have a difference of opinion; that is, on the question of the live export industry. However, that in no way detracts from the government’s view that its investment in the RSPCA is very good and that the RSPCA does a magnificent job for the people and animals of Western Australia.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for the question. The answer is yes. I can give such an unequivocal answer because we have already done that. I concede that we need to go further. The government has made its point, but the live export trade still suffers from a massive misunderstanding of the facts. Those facts need to be better understood. If people choose to oppose the trade after being given those facts, so be it, because they will have made a judgment on the facts. I fear that they are not in a position to make a judgment on the facts at the moment. I am not critical of opponents of the trade. I think they are wrong, but I think that they have made their judgment on faulty information. I will outline the government’s position on the RSPCA for the benefit of some members who may not have heard it, although I acknowledge that I have once answered that part of the question. The RSPCA has a multitude of roles. The government supports it across the vast bulk of those roles. There is one role in which we have a difference of opinion; that is, on the question of the live export industry. However, that in no way detracts from the government’s view that its investment in the RSPCA is very good and that the RSPCA does a magnificent job for the people and animals of Western Australia.
I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for the question. The answer is yes. I can give such an unequivocal answer because we have already done that. I concede that we need to go further. The government has made its point, but the live export trade still suffers from a massive misunderstanding of the facts. Those facts need to be better understood. If people choose to oppose the trade after being given those facts, so be it, because they will have made a judgment on the facts. I fear that they are not in a position to make a judgment on the facts at the moment. I am not critical of opponents of the trade. I think they are wrong, but I think that they have made their judgment on faulty information. I will outline the government’s position on the RSPCA for the benefit of some members who may not have heard it, although I acknowledge that I have once answered that part of the question. The RSPCA has a multitude of roles. The government supports it across the vast bulk of those roles. There is one role in which we have a difference of opinion; that is, on the question of the live export industry. However, that in no way detracts from the government’s view that its investment in the RSPCA is very good and that the RSPCA does a magnificent job for the people and animals of Western Australia.
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