Victorian Farmers Federation lobbies for stiffer penalties to deter activists from invading farms

Farmers and animal rights activists are about to fight a turf war before a Victorian parliamentary inquiry, with the Victorian Farmers Federation seeking more legal protections against farm invaders.

Animal-rights protesters block the intersections of Flinders and Swanston sts during early-morning traffic in Melbourne. Picture: AAP

VICTORIAN farmers and animal-rights activists will go head to head during a parliamentary probe into laws that protect farms against trespassers.

The Victorian Farmers’ Federation is calling for stricter biosecurity laws and on-the-spot fines for activists who invade farms in the wake of protests across the state.

VFF president David Jochinke said farmers felt “frustrated and disillusioned” by “direct attacks”.

“Farmers feel like they are being persecuted for what they are doing, even though they have the best interest of animals at heart while they are in their care,” he said.

“When these invasions do occur, or when farmers are trolled on social media, it is a direct attack on them.”

In April, Queensland introduced $652 fines for unauthorised entry to properties where animals are kept.

Animal rights groups, including Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick, are expected to strongly oppose similar penalties here.

Mr Meddick, who will sit on the inquiry as a participating member, told the Sunday Herald Sun he would instead push for stronger “animal protection laws”.

“Most people have heard about battery cages and sow stalls,” he said.

“However, they may be less familiar with day-old chicks being ground up alive in macerators or pigs experiencing suffocation in gas chambers; all of these things legislated as ‘humane slaughter’ in Victoria.

“Were it not for activists working undercover, we would not know about any of them, and I believe the members of parliament sitting on this inquiry need to hear their stories, too.”

The Nationals proposed the inquiry in March, just weeks before nationwide protests in which activists stormed abattoirs and blocked a key Flinders St intersection.

Its terms have been expanded beyond the impact of activism on farmers, to include abattoirs, butchers, processors and retailers.

The probe will also consider the health and biosecurity risks during farm invasions, and the “civil and criminal liability of individuals or organisations” who promote the illegal protests.

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Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes said activists’ “motives are misguided” and undermined animal welfare.

“Illegal activities in the name of animal activism are unacceptable and put hardworking farming families, biosecurity and the animals they claim to protect at risk,” she said.

“People disrupting and intimidating farmers and businesses across the state are causing immense distress for our farming community.”

Submissions opened last week, and the inquiry is due to hand down its report by November 28.

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