Animal Welfare

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Will the minister please update the chamber about the government's commitment to animal welfare and steps it is taking to protect animals and their owners?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:56): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. According to the RSPCA, Australia has one of the highest rates of companion animal ownership in the world. Approximately 59 per cent of Australian households include a dog or a cat, and quite simply, as we all know, our pets are part of our ordinary way of life in this country. As any pet owner will tell you, pets are good for our health and good for the health of our communities.

Because pets are such a part of our daily lives, it is incredibly upsetting when we see instances of animal cruelty. The government takes its responsibility for animal welfare very seriously indeed. This is why we took a series of commitments to the recent state election in March of this year that clearly outlined our plan to improve conditions for companion animals and address animal cruelty. These commitments were clearly articulated in a public document called 'Let's keep building South Australia'. I would like to briefly recap our election commitments in this important social area.

We are committed to increasing the RSPCA's annual funding to $1 million per year, indexed, in recognition of and to strengthen the invaluable role the organisation performs. We undertook to amend legislation to establish a mechanism for cats and dogs sold through the commercial pet trade to be microchipped before being sold and to conduct 12-month education campaigns to ensure that pet shops, breeders and prospective owners understand their responsibilities. We also committed investing $200,000 towards a business case for a single publicly accessible database for all microchipped animals, including the details of an animal's breeder, pet trader and subsequent owner.

This will, of course, make it easier to reunite lost animals with their owners, and I am sure the local government communities around the state will be pleased with that initiative. It will enable cases of aggressive behaviour or health issues to be traced back to the breeder or trader, allowing us to check that puppies and kittens are being treated properly and not coming from puppy farms.

Finally, we undertook to introduce a new code of practice to be developed in consultation with community and industry that will ensure that pets have come from healthy and humane conditions. These commitments also form the basis of the government's response to the final report of the Select Committee on Dogs and Cats as Companion Animals. Our commitments were articulated publicly as far back as March, and I need to stress articulated even earlier than that, and address many of the concerns highlighted in this select committee's recommendations. However, it is clear that ongoing consultation with the community will be necessary to ensure that state legislation and regulation effectively contribute to these objectives.

This is precisely what we undertook to do: consult thoroughly and amend the legislation when it is deemed necessary. In fact, we aim to undertake public consultation on a draft bill very soon. This is why I was particularly pleased on 1 September to read the South Australian Liberal Party's press release announcing their plan to introduce puppy farm legislation. I did for a moment think I was experiencing a short burst of déjà vu; their policies seemed very familiar indeed, but this should not surprise us too much, because those opposite are not known for developing innovative new policies.

In fact, Animals Australia undertook a comparison of all major parties prior to the 2013 federal election. They found that while the federal Labor Party had a formal written animal welfare policy the federal Liberal Party did not. In the lead-up to the state election, the Labor Party outlined a clear vision to keep building South Australia, including a plan to address the mistreatment of companion animals, and the Liberal Party failed to have any policies of any substance. Now, the Liberal Party is clearly trying to compensate by using our election commitments as their animal welfare policy.

As I said before, companion animals are a big part of our South Australian lives. We know that, and when it comes to welfare standards for breeding companion animals, the majority of registered breeders in South Australia raise their animals in appropriate conditions. We need to be careful and diligent in our consultation when we plan to introduce significant changes, precisely because this is a policy area that touches so many people.

What we definitely do not need is draft legislation that is rushed through without consultation with the community. I hesitate to point the finger at members who have done that in the past, when they tried to destroy, slash and burn marine parks. They do not consult with the community, but we in the government understand thoroughly our need to take the community along with us. We understand the implications that are involved. Our objective remains to eliminate cruelty to dogs and cats, and reduce the number of unwanted animals being euthanased.

I am very pleased that the state Liberal Party clearly agrees with the government on these issues. I look forward to the support of the state Liberal Party when this Labor government surely introduces its own bill. After all, Mr President, I suppose we must recognise that, in adopting the Labor Party's values, the Liberals are really picking the best out of what they can from around the country, and I congratulate them on that. I suppose, really, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.