Animal Justice Party of Australia Animal Politics Symposium - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Animal Justice Party of Australia

Prof Steve Garlick – President Mark Pearson – Party Secretary

… a better life for all

www.animaljusticeparty.org

Animal Politics Symposium Belgrade 6-9 November, 2014

Some things in life cause outrage & need action

Belconnen Massacre - June 2008

• 514 healthy free-living kangaroos brutally slaughtered by the Federal

and ACT Labor Governments.

• Within sight of the flag of the national parliament with its coat of arms

to make way for a local housing estate.

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• Alternative non-harming proposal provided,

lobbying, protests, activism.

• The day we gave up on The Greens, the RSPCA and

all governments with regard to animal well-being.

• When you live your life in the world of wild animals

you cant turn away from injustice by governments toward all creatures.

• The day it was decided a political party for animals

was needed.

Beauty & brutality of an icon

Australia’s Parliament Building and entry coat of arms

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Birth of a new political party

• From an idea in early 2009
• Australia’s first political party for animals

was formed in 2010 and registered with the Electoral Commission in May 2011

• Registration processes in a federated
• system. Each state has its own

requirements for party registration

• From a single idea four years ago

membership now 3500 & growing

• nationwide. Doubled in one year.

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Some of the issues in animal cruelty & the role

• f governments
• Kangaroos & wallabies – largest land-based slaughter
• f wildlife on the planet
• Live trade in cattle & sheep
• Factory farming
• Pig sow stalls
• Bobby calves
• Battery hens & turkeys
• Mulesing of sheep
• Domestic animals
• Puppy mills
• Dogs & cats on death row
• BSL

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Animal cruelty & the role of governments: Live export trade

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Party structure

• National Committee of nine elected annually

by voting members

• State/ territory groups & committees – not

elected

• State/ territory liaison group
• Voting members
• Ordinary members

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2013 National election

• Candidates
• 12 candidates in 6 Senate jurisdictions
• 2 candidates for the lower house
• 9 women

100,000 Australians give animals their first vote in National election for the Senate September 2013

Other campaign successes

• Increased awareness of animal issues in the

electorate

• Doubling membership to 3500 in one year
• Increased attention to animal issues by some

media

• Some increased attention on animal issues by

Greens and Labor

• Victoria – 29 November
• Standing 16 upper house candidates in 8

electorates & 9 lower house candidates in 9 electorates

• New South Wales – 15 March 2015
• Queensland – June 2015
• National - September 2016

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Future Elections

• National level
• Conservative government – borderline popular. Unpopular PM
• Elections every three years (next election September 2016)
• Upper house (Senate) & Lower House preferential voting

system.

• Two major parties and many small/ minor parties
• State level
• Six states & two territories – different electoral systems

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Election Landscape

• Preferential system makes predictions of success difficult to

judge

• Lower house seat almost impossible at this stage
• Upper house seats: perhaps one in Victoria and one in NSW
• Achieve 4% of primary vote in an electorate to recover

election costs

• Increased primary vote from 100K to 250K would put AJP in

top six parties nationally with 2% of national primary vote.

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Chances of success

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Areas where Party action needed

• Money & fundraising
• Social & other media exposure
• Organisational efficiency in a period of rapid change
• Research & analysis of animal issues & electorates
• How to position the Party in the preference game versus

animal values

• Building left/ right alliances
• Building support from animal organisations

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A new strategy for the politics of animal well-being

• Direct action outside of the electoral cycle
• Climate change & environmental sustainability
• Global food security – plant-based diet
• Ethics as the new competition in economics
• International collaboration (parties, NGOs)
• International law
• An ageing population & the cost
• f health care

… a better life for all

Thank you