Today Abigail spoke in support of the motion to release documents on the Baboon colony at Wallacia, a facility where Baboons are bred for medical testing and research purposes, and outlined The Greens strong opposition to the use of animals in so called research.
Ms ABIGAIL BOYD (20:09:47): On behalf of The Greens, I support the motion put forward by the Hon. Emma Hurst. I thank her for moving the motion and for continuing to help keep the animal welfare issues that our community are interested in on the agenda in this place. I am glad to talk about baboons and their welfare. I would love to know the final sentence from the Hon. Sam Farraway, but unfortunately his time had expired. If it had something to do with animal welfare activists needing to find out for themselves what is happening at those facilities, then that underlines the rationale for the motion. The public deserves to know what is being done with public money. We have seen time after time that the Government is out of step with community attitudes on a number of critical areas in animal welfare.
Community attitudes about what is and is not acceptable in medical research have moved on. Medical research and medical researchers have moved on. Other countries are investing in research solutions that do not involve baboons and other primates. Greater transparency over medical research such as this will allow the community to better assess whether the research is in line with community expectations. It is a shame that the Government could not provide the information through the budget estimates process or through the various questions on notice that The Greens have asked. Hopefully this order for papers will elucidate what is happening in the facility.