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OPINION: In the last few weeks we have seen animals grab the headlines. From the live baiting of greyhounds, to Glenn McGrath’s love of hunting, it seems that the community is opposed to animal suffering and wants action.

Animal welfare is overwhelmingly a state issue. So with the NSW election this weekend, it is time to reflect on what various political parties are promising to do for animals.

If the NSW Liberal Party has an animal welfare policy it is not readily available. Mike Baird responded to the recent greyhound scandal by vowing to ‘get to the bottom’ of animal welfare abuses in the industry. Baird was not Premier when the NSW Parliament held its 2013 inquiry into greyhound racing. He did however become Premier the same month in which the NSW Government decided not to ‘adequately address many of the issues raised by the RSPCA’ at that inquiry. It seems that in relation to animal welfare, Mike Baird is a follower, not a leader.

The NSW division of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) is just as reluctant as the Coalition to publicly articulate a position on animal welfare. The ALP does however have a view on racing; it strongly supports it. To be fair, Luke Foley’s ‘first major election policy announcement’, which was to pour ‘$339 million over four years’ of taxpayer-funded subsidies into the NSW racing industry, was made prior to the Four Corners expose. Yet, that policy was developed as result of the NSW Parliamentary inquiry into Greyhound racing; the same inquiry where serious animal welfare concerns were documented.      

The NSW Greens have the most to be proud of in relation to greyhounds. John Kaye tried to sound the alarm bells. Addressing Parliament in November 2014, Kaye asked ‘why do we have an industry where the regulator is simultaneously at war with many of the operators in the industry and at the same time has failed to resolve animal welfare issues?’ That said, live baiting was not among the animal welfare issues Kaye chose to focus on.

Improved animal welfare regulation has been on the NSW Greens’ agenda for some time. The party has an accessible animal welfare policy and in advance of the NSW state election has developed an additional policy platform focused on the establishment of an ‘independent Office Of Animal Welfare’. Of course the devil is in the detail. The NSW Greens’ animal welfare policy has the proposed office ‘advising upon animal welfare and protection issues’ while the splashier press release says that the office will ‘monitor, enforce and drive change in animal welfare law and practice in NSW’. Advising and enforcing are very different things.      

But it’s not all about the big, well known parties. The Animal Justice Party (AJP) is a new kid on the block. Established around five years ago, so far the AJP has failed to convert community concern for animals into electoral success. This stands in contrast to the Shooters and Fishers Party who have a history of successfully contesting elections in NSW, despite the apparent unpopularity of the party’s central aim.

Writing recently in the Sydney Morning Herald, Robert Borsak, one of two NSW Shooters and Fishers Party MLCs, wrote that he is ‘proud to be a hunter’ but that he has been ‘subjected to threats’ as a result. Both Borsak, and his party colleague Robert Brown, will face the people again this weekend. It will be very interesting to see whether their joy of hunting will again resonate with the electorate.

The NSW government sets the rules that affect the lives of many millions of animals. Despite that weighty responsibility neither the Liberal nor Labor parties appear to be interested in animal welfare. While I look forward to hearing Antony Green announce the winner on March 28, I don’t expect much to change as a result. This is a shame because the community appears to care about animals. If only our MPs felt the same way.

Siobhan O'Sullivan is a lecturer in social policy in the School of Social Sciences at UNSW.