Page 1061 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 2012
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Whilst we may not all agree on the manner of egg production at Parkwood farm, we should all be able to acknowledge that Pace Farm is operating within the regulations of the Animal Welfare Act 1992 and in some circumstances actually exceeding national standards.
The ACT government regularly inspects the farm to ensure that this remains the case. Parkwood farm is inspected routinely by the ACT Chief Veterinary Officer. Inspections are conducted to ensure compliance with legislation and whenever a complaint is received about the manner of operations at the facility. It is worth noting that thus far in the 2011-12 financial year no complaint has been received in relation to egg production in the ACT. The last inspection of Parkwood farm was conducted by the Chief Veterinary Officer on 2 March and no animal welfare issues were identified.
There are a number of acts and codes of practice that regulate commercial egg production and the labelling and sale of eggs. Audits have confirmed that the Parkwood farm cage egg production facility complies with nationally agreed housing requirements. In fact, Pace Farm exceeds the national requirement of space allocation per hen by over a third.
It is worth noting that the government has endeavoured to encourage Pace Farm to convert its Parkwood farm to a barn egg production facility. The ACT government has previously offered a $1 million grant to assist with the conversion. However, this offer was not accepted at the time. The government has also supported legislative amendments to signpost the different production methods in retail outlets so that the public is better informed about the eggs it buys. This allows consumers to make informed choices and recognises the importance of market forces in driving change to improve conditions for poultry—change that will be driven by price, consumer attitude and behaviour.
Notwithstanding the efforts to date and the positive steps we have taken, I believe there is more that can be done to encourage change at the local level. I believe that the unfortunate events at Parkwood farm last week present us with an opportunity to reopen discussions with Pace Farm to determine what support would be required to convert their facility to barn egg production. This provides the best possible chance of affecting change without the loss of 60 important jobs and the economic activity that comes with those jobs.
I therefore call on the government to undertake further work with Parkwood farm to convert to a barn-laid facility and report back to the Assembly on the progress of this work in the May 2012 sittings.
MS LE COUTEUR (Molonglo) (4.45): I am really, really pleased that this motion has come before the Assembly today. Members will know of my longstanding—in fact, I should say the Greens’ longstanding—interest in this matter. The legislation that Ms Porter refers to in 1997 was, of course, introduced by the first Greens MLA, Kerry Tucker. Deb Foskey also introduced, unfortunately unsuccessful, legislation in 2007 on the subject. Then in 2009 I of course also introduced legislation on the subject.
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