Aussie Farms aka Farm Transparency Project raise $175k for High Court case
The money raised in just 23 days for a bid to change hidden camera laws includes a donation from a prominent Aussie philanthropist.
Animal activists have raised more than $100,000 through crowd-funding for a High Court bid to overturn NSW laws which prohibit hidden cameras on farms and in abattoirs.
And an anonymous donor has promised to match the first $75,000.
The campaign, led by controversial animal activist group Farm Transparency Project, formerly Aussie Farms, took just 23 days to reach its goal of $100,000 in donations last Friday.
As of 1pm on Monday it sits at $101,326, with the number continuing to rise.
Under the NSW Surveillance Devices Act, secretly capturing a video or publishing that video carries fines of up to $55,000 for corporations and in any other case, fines up to $11,000 or five years jail, or both.
Farm Transparency Project, which had its charity status stripped in 2019, argues the laws breach Australia’s “implied freedom of political communication”.
The fundraising page for the campaign shows 1116 people have donated, with the highest donations being $25,000 from an anonymous donor and $10,000 from Philip Wollen OAM – a philanthropist and former Australian of the Year (Victoria) recipient.
The group’s website said it had put together “an incredible legal team comprising a QC, a barrister and two solicitors”.
It said a donor had offered to match the first $75,000 raised to support the legal action.
The fundraising page says the $175,000 collected so far covers the estimated costs of the case, but the group welcomed further donations for “unexpected additional costs”.
“Any such funds not ultimately required for the legal proceedings will be put towards our other efforts advocating for the rights and protection of animals,” the page said.
When announcing the legal action last month, Farm Transparency Project executive director Chris Delforce said “challenging the constitutional validity of one such law is the only way to stop them once and for all”.
“If successful, the NSW Government will be forced to scrap or amend section 11, and passing such laws in the future anywhere in Australia will be just about impossible,” he said.
Mr Delforce has not responded to questions from The Weekly Times.
Farm Transparency Project, which rebranded from Aussie Farms in late 2019, is known for its map pinpointing thousands of farms and agriculture businesses, which it claims are places of cruelty and exploitation.
It has been slammed as an “attack map” by farmers and politicians.
In response to the map, the Federal Government introduced laws in 2019 making it illegal to use a carriage service, such as the internet, to incite trespass, property damage or livestock theft, with penalties of up to 12 months and five years in jail respectively.
Aussie Farms has been under investigation for breach of the Privacy Act for 20 months, with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner beginning to make its “inquiries” seven months before that.
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