Legislation designed to make it harder to record and report episodes of cruelty to animals … Cockies Corner in the box seat … Also, barrister Judy Bornstein appointed to the dish-lickers board as part of a move to clean-up greyhound racing rackets … Polly Peck with the hottest political news
While reptiles of the media are up in arms about Bookshelves Brandis’ data retention scheme, on another front the parliament is trying to make it harder for the media to expose animal cruelty, such as live baiting in the greyhound business or the live meat export trade.
The “unrepresentative swill” are considering amendments to Criminal Code (Animal Protection) Bill which would make it illegal to make a “visual record” of an activity which was thought to be “malicious cruelty to animals” if the activity wasn’t reported to an authority “with responsibility for enforcing laws relating to animal welfare” within one business day, and if “the record” were not given to such an authority within five business days.
But, just who or what the authority is nowhere spelt out. And no justification is offered for a switch to such a law, which would doubtless find favour in Putin’s Russia.
The purported aim of the legislation is to make sure “that animals are protected against further unnecessary cruelty caused by a delay in reporting”.
In fact, it looks like a move by the Coalition’s Cockies Corner to make it harder for the media to film the mistreatment of animals and bring these things to the attention of the public. The message is, let’s keep the meat export business rolling, unhindered, despite the brutality.
One can imagine a TV crew recording shocking footage and the director saying, “Right, let’s get it off to the authorities”. At the very least the story would be crippled.
The legislation says that “only one copy of the record needs to be provided to the authority”, but because this “record” is to be treated as “including a reference to a copy of the record” it’s difficult to work out if all copies have to be surrendered or just a single copy.
Animal activists must be alarmed about other changes. Two sweeping new provisions are proposed.
One makes it illegal to engage in conduct that destroys or damages property used in carrying on an “animal enterprise” if the accused intends to interfere with this enterprise. The offence applies on the property of someone who carries on, or is “otherwise connected with or related to”, an animal enterprise.
Another section makes it an offence to “engage in conduct, trespass, harassment or intimidation” if the conduct is intended to interfere with the carrying on of an “animal enterprise”, and the conduct causes someone engaged in or connected with this enterprise reasonably to fear death or serious injury, or there will be vandalism or property damage. This also applies to a close family member, employee or contractor.
Of course, there are already laws against unlawful or willful damage so, at the very least, this seems odd. And behaviour that makes someone fear violence in relation to their “animal enterprise” is criminalised, too.
A sweeping definition is offered for such an enterprise being, “a commercial or academic enterprise that uses, sells, houses or stores animals or animal products for [profit, food, fibre production, agriculture, education, research or testing]”.
So, hey, this includes a café. Or a supermarket or chemist, all of which have animal products on sale for profit.
The even greater level of weirdness is that the two new provisions also cover all those “connected with or related to” an animal enterprise. What a scope!
The offences carry mandatory jail, ranging from one to 20 years for destroying or damaging property, or five years to life for causing fear of death or serious bodily injury.
These cranky new laws show the rural rump is wagging the Coalition’s tail. These changes to the Criminal Code Amendment (Animal Protection) Bill 2015 have been referred to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, which is due to report by May 13.
Chairing the committee is Wild Bill Heffernan. He’s bound to get it all sorted.
In other animal news Melbourne barrister Judy Bornstein from the Tomato Left has been asked to revive the dish-lickers’ racket.
She’s been hoisted onto the new board of Greyhound Racing Victoria with ex-top cop Ken Lay, under the chairmanship of Ray (Norman) Gunston, the former chief financial officer for Tatts Group.
The previous board quit after an interim report found there was no evidence members knew about live baiting at a trial track. The Four Corners exposé came as a total surprise.
Gunston is no stranger to scandal. As interim CEO at the Essendon footy club he was central to it accepting its penalty from the AFL for bringing the game into disrepute when the League handed down its biggest sanction to a club.
He also helped oversee the appointment of Mark Thompson as senior coach for a season while James Hird was suspended.
For Ms Bornstein it’s been a long and fascinating journey. Once a member of the dominant left faction on the Central Executive of the Victorian ALP, until it was sacked to pave the way for Whitlam becoming PM, she was a regular target of the commie baiters on the old Sun News-Pictorial.
Bornstein slipped out of union jobs to do law at Melbourne, becoming a barrister 17 years ago.
As Minister for Workplace Relations Bill Shorten put her on the Fair Work Building and Construction Advisory Board, set-up in the wake of revelations about criminality in trade unions.
She had been a Commissioner of the Industrial Relations Commission of Victoria. She was also appointed by the ACTU to a specialist panel to report on “best practice” governance for the union movement, in the wake of the financial scandal surrounding Craig Thomson and the Health Services Union.
Judy Bornstein was one of 33 members of the bizarre central executive, which controlled MPs and included plumbers’ union boss George Crawford as chairman, Jim Cairns as vice-chairman, Judy and Beverley Genser from Richmond Council. Baghdad Bill Hartley was secretary.
The issue that tore the ALP apart was state aid to religious schools. Most of the executive opposed it.
Unions linked to the fanatical National Civic Council (NCC) and its lovechild, the Democratic Labor Party, split from the Labor Party and for decades directed their preferences to conservatives.
Once Whitlam changed the policy on state aid, however, nine “pragmatic left” unions refrained from voting at a state conference on Saturday April 20, 1985, thus admitting the NCC unions.
As Alex Hutchinson of the Musicians Union played the Last Post on his clarinet when the enemy unions entered the conference next day overripe tomatoes were thrown and a term was born.
Achievement runs strongly in the Bornstein clan. Her son Josh describes himself as an employment lawyer, writer and presenter, company director, entrepreneur, disciplinary tribunal member and, from time to time, campaigner, as well as being a Twitter addict. Besides his role as a principal at Maurice Blackburn, he is president of Tzedek, a NGO advocating for victims of child sexual abuse in the Australian Jewish community.