Today in Parliament, Abigail gave notice of a motion in support of the annual No Meat May challenge which inspires a healthier, kinder, more sustainable and just future for people, animals and the planet.

Abigail said:

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

(1) That this House notes that:

• No Meat May is an annual challenge that invites people to switch to a plant powered diet during the month of May, with the core mission being to build a healthier, kinder, greener, more sustainable world; 
• since it first began 13 years ago, the impact of No Meat May has been profound and lasting, not only in terms of the individuals who participate in the challenge but in inspiring friends, family members and colleagues to join in, even if they don’t register, and often change their meat or animal product consumption well beyond the month of May; 
• No Meat May is also a loud call to action on governments to take urgent action to rein in the industrial animal agriculture industry’s rampant exploitation of animals, which is killing our planet, driving the climate and extinction crises and causing immense harm to human health; 
• an Oxford study ten years ago in 2016 revealed that if the world stopped eating animals, the impacts on public health and global warming would be astronomical; by 2050, we could prevent 8.1 million human deaths per year, save US $1 trillion dollars in health care, cut greenhouse emissions by 70 percent and spare countless animals’ lives; 
• 43,534 people across over 70 countries took on the 2025 challenge, joining a growing global community of over 340,000 people since 2013, in addition to the hundreds of thousands more who took part but didn’t register; 
• 92 percent of No Meat May participants report that they either cut down or cut out meat and animal products after completing the challenge, and 21 percent said they eliminated all meat; 
• the 2025 challenge saved an estimated 26,120 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent gases each year, which equates to 1.045 million tonnes over 40 years. It also saved over 18,500 tonnes of crops per year which are no longer needed as animal feed and about 11.9 billion litres of water per year; 
• 1,331,778 animals were spared in May alone last year;
• No Meat May ambassadors this year include Abigail Boyd MLC and Emma Hurst MLC. 

(2) That this House commends the team at No Meat May for inspiring millions of people worldwide to champion a healthier, kinder, more sustainable and just future for people, animals and the planet, and encourages anyone thinking about getting involved to give it a go this May.

6 May 2026