Page 802 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 2 May 2007
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talking to the government about a compensation package for it to pack up and leave the egg production facility in west Belconnen anyway. As members will be aware, I asked the Chief Minister a question about this yesterday. I am still very keen to hear the answer; he did say he would get back to us.
This issue comes at the same time as the new residential area of west Macgregor is being released for land sales. Perhaps Pace sees this as a good opportunity to avoid complaints by residents who find themselves living next to a smelly, intensive battery hen facility. Many will also find that morally repugnant.
The Greens have long been arguing for an end to this type of practice across Australia. We think that battery hens are a thing of the past, born out of the industrial era when maximising production came at the expense of everything else. In those times we did not believe that native people were anything more than savages—remember?—and therefore could be victims of our plan to colonise Australia, among other countries. Now we know that hens are sentient beings. We have to act from that knowledge.
In recent times there has been an increase in the number of free-range and barn laid eggs produced in Australia. This is a direct market response to consumers making a choice as individuals by purchasing non-battery cage eggs, even when there is a cost factor. However, there is a limit to how much market pressure works. Despite the fact that 84.6 per cent of Canberrans think that the production of battery cage eggs is a cruel system, 13.1 per cent of shoppers report that there are no free-range options where they shop.
Mr Speaker, this is why we have governments. They still have their place in this free market society. The Greens’ preference is to move completely towards free-range egg farming. In the meantime, it is more practicable to allow barn layer systems of production, because they also allow the space and facilities for exercise and natural behaviours that are simply not possible in cages.
Banning battery systems is just one step in improving the welfare of hens. There is also still a lot of work to be done on improving the alternative systems of free range and barn laying if they are going to be run on a large scale. Neither of these systems is perfect when stocked densely; good husbandry practices are the key to all systems.
Having chooks in the backyard is probably the best means of egg production for the wellbeing of hens and control of their food, thus ensuring egg quality, but understandably it is not practical for many households. At the moment, it accounts for around four per cent of production in the ACT and around 12.5 per cent in New South Wales—although these can only be estimates, of course. I understand that the government is looking to nominate the ACT as a UNESCO biosphere area. Battery cage egg production might be a perfect example of an industry that many people might not see as compatible with this concept.
Another issue around egg sales is the confusion that consumers have when they get to the shelves and are faced with a range of barn laid, farm fresh, free-range, vegetarian, omega 3 enhanced and RSCPA endorsed eggs, alongside the cage eggs. The ACT has the most helpful and informative egg labelling legislation in Australia, after a Greens bill was passed in 2001 requiring that all eggs sold in the ACT clearly indicate the
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