Page 1226 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 23 March 2010
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number of approved codes of practice made under the Animal Welfare Act. These codes work as best practice guides. The bill does not affect the current approved code. Those codes generally do not set clear standards of behaviour and are unsuited to become mandatory codes. They do not conform to the nationally agreed format for new mandatory codes.
It should be noted that under the bill the minister must be satisfied that adequate consultation has occurred before making a code of practice mandatory. I understand the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee will play an important role in the consultations for mandatory codes of practice.
When the minister decides to make a code mandatory, the bill also requires that the new code be publicised in local newspapers. The introduction of mandatory codes of practice will give the territory a tool that will improve the enforceability of codes of practice. This is being done by the inclusion of new offence provisions.
In his presentation speech for this bill the Chief Minister stated that regulations would be made under the Animal Welfare Act to improve battery hen welfare. These regulations have been developed and are now available via the legislation register. I think Mrs Dunne made some reference in her speech to the ACT being a leader and suggested that this was not necessarily a very good idea. But the last time I looked I thought it was an excellent idea for us to be a leader in the way that we introduce legislation, and to have other people follow our lead. The regulations outline specific requirements for the design of cages, the minimum area for birds in each cage, and inspection arrangements for commercial egg producers.
The welfare of poultry, particularly poultry kept in cages, is important for the people of Canberra. New regulations for this industry provide new measures to improve the welfare of caged hens, while a national mandatory code for poultry is being still developed. So you can see that it is necessary for us to lead the way in this regard at this time.
The government has introduced a balanced package. This bill will insert the power to make mandatory codes of practice, and the government has also addressed the ongoing concern related to the welfare of poultry through new regulations. These are important steps as progress is made to nationally consistent animal welfare regulation. I commend the bill to the Assembly, and I am very much looking forward to playing a role in further work in the area of animal welfare as we move forward.
MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella) (11.44): This bill will enable the ACT government to participate in a national program to harmonise animal welfare legislation. It does this by allowing the minister to adopt, in whole or part, mandatory codes of practice for animal welfare, which it is anticipated will be drawn from nationally developed animal welfare codes of practice.
In order to better describe the necessity for this legislation, I will explain to members the national process for the development of new animal welfare codes. The Australian animal welfare strategy, or AAWS, has been agreed to by all jurisdictions, through the Primary Industries Ministerial Council. Harmonisation of legislation has been led by the commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in conjunction with Animal Health Australia.
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