Page 1233 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 11 April 2018
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In Mr Parton’s motion he rightly lists a number of key ACT Greens issues and highlights how having the Greens in government can lead to substantive and meaningful change. Some examples of this influence include the ban on advertising for junk food, alcohol, gambling, fossil fuels and weapons on ACTION buses, which I introduced during my time as TAMS minister; and our repeated calls and proposals to embed ethical investment practices into our laws, particularly our superannuation funds. This has been led by my colleague Ms Le Couteur, who, as members will know, was involved in setting up the Australian Ethical investment organisation, which has proved to be a very successful superannuation fund here in Australia. And former Greens MLA Meredith Hunter was a very strong advocate on this issue in her time in this place.
There is the commitment, through the 2008 parliamentary agreement, to review government investment practices, which led to the development of the ACT government’s responsible investment policy. We have had strong advocacy to improve harm minimisation measures on poker machines, including reduced ATM withdrawal limits for all venues and nation-leading bet limits and a mandatory precommitment scheme for poker machines in the casino. And, as has been referred to in the attorney’s amendment, there is our shared commitment to reduce the number of poker machines in the ACT to 4,000 by the end of this Assembly term, which was agreed to in the 2016 parliamentary agreement.
The Greens have long argued that our government should be investing in companies that deliver positive environmental and social outcomes for our community. Current legislation prevents the government from investing in companies that produce tobacco, cluster munitions and landmines. Of course there is always more we can do, and the Greens would like to see a review of the policy to ensure that taxpayer funds continue to be directed towards ethical ends.
Interestingly, Mr Parton’s motion seems to inadvertently suggest that greyhound racing itself is an unethical industry. As I have said before, despite the ACT greyhound racing industry’s claims of an “unblemished animal welfare record”—and we continue to see that repeated—the Canberra Greyhound Racing Club’s own reports provide a record of the many dog deaths and injuries that have occurred here in the ACT. The attorney provided some updated examples this morning. We believe this is proof positive that the industry is unable to operate without these kinds of unacceptable animal welfare outcomes.
Despite the colourful reinterpretation by Mr Parton, you will never hear from me denigration of the individuals involved in the greyhound racing industry in the ACT. Mr Parton talked about some people denigrating him; I have certainly had my fair share of personal denigration. But it is not about that. I do not have a beef with the individuals involved. What I cannot do is stand by in the face of the evidence on the individual dogs, the dogs that have to be put down track side. As I have said, we cannot accept that that is an acceptable by-product of this. Whether you call it an industry, a pastime, a hobby or whatever, we cannot stand by and accept those inevitable injuries and euthanising of animals as a result of this practice.
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