IF recently elected Animal Justice Party upper house MP Andy Meddick has his way, we\u2019d be drastically changing the way we use and interact with animals.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s opposed to the thoroughbred racing industry, eating animals and pretty much anything else that sees them used or killed for human use.<\/p>\n
However, the Western Victoria Region MP knows he doesn\u2019t have it all his own way, so the focus for his freshman term in parliament will be about creating change where he can.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you come from a philosophy of compassion and kindness and rationality and equality, which are our four key party values, it\u2019s not hard to find common ground with people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people\u2026 do feel an affinity with non-human animals. They do want to abolish cruelty.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to horse racing, Mr Meddick said there were many elements where incremental change could be made.<\/p>\n
They include eliminating the crop, tongue ties, twoyear-old racing and jumps racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an industry [jumps racing] that was on the way out when it was wholly and solely based on the Melbourne courses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRacing Victoria decided to try and revive it by sending it out to the country areas to try and get some interest in it\u2026 that hasn\u2019t worked. More deaths, more injuries, more wastage.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we think we can actually get rid of the flat track horse racing industry? Probably not. Governments in every state rely heavily on the gambling it provides.\u201d<\/p>\n
On dairy farming, Mr Meddick said that he was \u201cphilosophically\u201d against it and not just from an animal welfare standpoint.<\/p>\n
The impact of beef and dairy production on climate change and treatment of producers by those up the chain were also reasons he said there needed to be change in the space.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo I think I can think I can shut down the dairy industry? Of course not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel sorry for a lot of those families involved in it, they\u2019ve been on those farms for generations and what happened to them with Murray Goulburn and the farm gate prices of milk, that was atrocious.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to help those people if they want to get out of the industry and move into plant-based agriculture.\u201d<\/p>\n
At November\u2019s election Mr Meddick polled just under 12,500 primary votes in the Wester Victoria upper house region for 2.17 per cent of the total cast.<\/p>\n
Following the distribution of preferences he was able to stay in front as other groups were eliminated from the count and subsequently slid into fifth place.<\/p>\n
The result was not unexpected.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been something we\u2019ve been working towards for the last eight years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had done the numbers, we had worked out a strategy, so we knew if we increased our primary vote beyond a certain point we knew that we would get there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen is was a matter of building relationships with other parties and finding ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Specific issues that Mr Meddick wants to see action on are the ones his party campaigned on.<\/p>\n
They include ending duck hunting, battery hen farming, the use of 1080 poison along with strengthening current puppy farming legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to talk about a whole host of issues with the newly established office of animal welfare that the government has set up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Looking at non-animal issues that will come before the parliament over the next term, Mr Meddick said being informed was what\u2019s important when considering how to vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re actually in the house you\u2019re there to vote on a number of issues. So you have to know what they\u2019re about. Research is key, speaking with stakeholders is key, and that\u2019s what we\u2019ve doing for that last eight years and I\u2019ll continue to do in the upper house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following his election, Mr Meddick came in for criticism from some circles.<\/p>\n
Liberal lower house member for Polwarth, Richard Riordan, said, \u201cThe Animal Justice Party is seeking to abolish livestock production, phase out Southwest Victoria\u2019s dairy industry and cease controlling feral animals such as foxes and rabbits, among many, many other weird and wacky policy directions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Meddick rejected those claims.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen the press releases he\u2019s put out and they are nothing short of outrageous,\u201d Mr Meddick said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are of a party that is panicked and have been smashed. They are irrelevant in the lower house.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IF recently elected Animal Justice Party upper house MP Andy Meddick has his way, we\u2019d be drastically changing the way we use and interact with animals. He\u2019s opposed to the thoroughbred racing industry, eating animals and pretty much anything else that sees them used or killed for human use. However, the Western Victoria Region MP […]<\/p>\n