Abigail took the opportunity to urge the Government to do their job of updating our outdated animal welfare laws.
Ms ABIGAIL BOYD (11:54): On behalf of The Greens, I indicate that we support the Statue Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022. It is largely uncontroversial. I will speak briefly to schedule 1.2 [2], which amends the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989 to extend the date of automatic repeal of three regulations while the Government is developing legislation that would replace the primary legislation under which they sit. One of those regulations is the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Regulation 2012, which sits under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act [POCTAA]. The Government has stated that because the Animal Welfare Bill 2022, if passed, will replace POCTAA, it is premature to remake the subordinate legislation. Not only has the Animal Welfare Bill not even been given notice of in this Parliament, the Government's review into animal welfare, which has led to the bill, is years overdue. I have serious doubts we will see the regulatory overhaul that we have been promised before the conclusion of the term of this Parliament.
The State Development Committee has been inquiring into the draft Animal Welfare Bill. As a participating member on the inquiry, it has become increasingly obvious to me that the Government has no intention to try to find a pathway through the policy disagreements. It will instead bring to this place a largely unamended bill that no side of politics is happy with, while throwing its hands in the air and crying, "We tried", leading to the outcome of a largely unchanged regulatory framework. While we support the Government extending the lifespan of the regulations—since we have no other choice in the absence of any other updated regulation—we do so with significant cynicism. We call on the Minister for Agriculture to do better than his predecessor and to get on with the job of updating our animal welfare laws.
The full debate can be found in Hansard, here.