Andrew delivered the following speech to the Parliament highlighting the need for the Tasmanian Legislative Council to pass the greyhound racing ban and finally end the cruel, unpopular and outdated industry.
“A great many Australians were heartened by the Tasmanian Government’s promise to end greyhound racing in the State by 2030, and the subsequent introduction of legislation to do just that.
Heartened indeed because Australians are well aware that the greyhound racing industry in Australia inflicts unspeakable cruelty on an industrial scale. No wonder one dog has died already on Tassie tracks this year, and 13 have died across the country. No wonder countless more have been injured or been put down, often simply because they don’t run fast enough.
The greyhound racing industry only exists because of gambling money, which means there’s a fundamental tension between animal welfare and corporate interests. And this tension can’t be addressed with tweaks to welfare standards, so the only way to end the cruelty is to end the industry.
Now regrettably the legislation for this ban was deferred by the Legislative Council, which has given the greyhound racing industry and gambling companies the time to pull out all stops to try and prevent the ban passing Parliament.
So I urge LegCo members, and the Tasmanian Government, to hold firm. And I encourage Tasmanians to get in touch with your state parliamentarians and let them know you want these beautiful dogs protected for good.
Because this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, a nation-leading opportunity, to end a cruel, unpopular and outdated industry, and Tassie owes it to the dogs to get it done.”