Animal activists face huge fines for farm trespass in Victoria under new laws

The leader of an animal rights group has come out swinging, after one state introduced fines among the harshest in the country.

Animal activists trespassing on farms will face huge fines in Victoria, under proposed laws introduced into parliament today.

Among the heaviest penalties in Australia, the bill includes on-the-spot fines of $1272 for an individual or $8178 for an organisation.

Further penalties of up to $10,904 for an individual and up to $54,522 for an organisation could apply for more serious offending.

The on-the-spot fines were a recommendation from a parliamentary inquiry into animal activism, which was set up back in May 2019 after an activist was fined $1 for breaking biosecurity laws when stealing livestock from a Gippsland goat farm.

It was the same year that a national day of protests caused chaos across the country, including shutting down a major Melbourne intersection at peak hour.

While Victoria established an inquiry into the issue, Queensland introduced a $652.75 on-the-spot fine and NSW a $1000 on-the-spot fine the same year.

Victorian Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said trespassing animal activists put biosecurity on farms at risk and the new laws worked to deter that behaviour.

“Farmers and the agricultural industry should be able to do their work without fear of being targeted by animal activists,” she said.

“This sort of activity is highly distressing for farming families and puts the biosecurity and safety of the animals that activists purport to protect at risk.”

But prominent animal activist Chris Delforce said the Andrews Government was “trying to have it both ways” working on a new Animal Welfare Act and introducing these fines.

“These new laws impose heavy on-the-spot fines for people who covertly enter animal agriculture facilities to capture evidence of cruelty,” he said.

“If these new anti-activist laws are anything to go by, this government has no real interest in the welfare of farm animals, and the new Animal Welfare Act will be as much of a sham as (the current) Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

“Their real interest is in stemming the tide of footage and photographs which have been, for many years, a source of great embarrassment and reputation damage for industries that engage in commercialised animal cruelty.”

Mr Delforce is the executive director of Aussie Farms, now renamed Farm Transparency Project, which created a map pinpointing and sharing the details of farms and agriculture businesses across the country.

It wants to see the end of animal agriculture and publishes covert footage taken on Australian farms and abattoirs.

The organisation was stripped of its charity status in November 2019, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying they “encouraged the invasion of farmers’ homes and properties and the sabotaging of businesses”.

Victoria’s peak farming body said there was a sense of relief among the industry today, hearing the announcement of the new fines.

“They were a long time coming to the point we thought perhaps they weren’t going to put them into place,” Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said.

“They are meaningful fines and not only a deterrent, but they demonstrate we value farmers and it’s not an appropriate form of protest to trespass onto farmers’ property.”

The new penalties will come into effect in 2022.