Why is Australia the only country in the world that permits the cruel practice of mulesing?

Today in Parliament, Abigail gave notice of a motion calling on the Federal and State Governments to commit to following through on the prohibition of the barbaric practice of live lamb cutting.

Abigail said:

I give notice that on the next sitting day I will move:

(1) That this House notes that:

it has been 20 years since Australian wool industry leaders unanimously committed to phasing out live lamb cutting, also known as mulesing, by 2010, before backflipping and abandoning this promise just five years later in 2009,
with New Zealand phasing out and then banning mulesing by law in 2018, Australia is now the only country in the world where this cruel practice still continues despite overwhelming opposition here in Australia and internationally, and
Four Paws, Humane Society International Australia and the Australian Alliance for Animals published a report entitled “The Broken Promise” on 17 September 2024, which found that:
- the wool sector failed to achieve the promised 2010 phase-out for no reason other than it comprehensively failed to act, and governments failed to hold it accountable,
- since 2010 when the deadline was scrapped, an estimated 140 million lambs have been subjected to the cruel practice of live cutting,
- it would have been entirely possible for the wool industry to honour their commitment to end live lamb cutting by 2010 had the phase-out period set twenty years ago been used to transition to flystrike-resistant sheep, instead of allowing wool producers to, at their own will, continue breeding sheep with characteristics that made them highly vulnerable to flystrike, and
- there is simply no justifiable reason to continue the outdated, unethical and unnecessary practice of live lamb cutting, and it is now time for Australian federal, state and territory governments to step in and provide this missing leadership and mandate a phase-out of live lamb cutting by 2030.

(2) That this House commends the work of Four Paws, Humane Society International Australia and the Australian Alliance for Animals in conducting this thorough research, revealing the true failure of the wool industry and of governments, and advocating for an end to the cruel practice of mulesing.

(3) That this House calls on the NSW Government to:

get on board with the vast majority of Australian and international consumers, countless fashion brands, farmers, stakeholders in the wool sector, animal welfare advocates and concerned members of the public in recognising live lamb cutting as an out-dated, cruel and unnecessary practice to mitigate flystrike in sheep, and
support a phase-out of mulesing by 2030 by legislating a date to ban live lamb cutting, dedicating department resourcing to support the transition, allocating funding to the NSW wool sector for selective breeding of plain-bodied sheep that are resistant to flystrike, and creating a strategic plan to phase-out mulesing practices.

19 September 2024

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Why is Australia the only country in the world that permits the cruel practice of mulesing?

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

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