Animals

Select Committee into the Operations of the RSPCA - public submissions invited

Submitted by Eloise Dortch on Tue, 02/06/2015 - 09:58

Public Submissions invited to the RSPCA Inquiry

As you might be aware the Legislative Council has established a Select Committee to inquire into the Operations of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) specifically; Read more »

Greens aim to refocus RSPCA debate on animal welfare concerns

Submitted by Eloise Dortch on Wed, 13/05/2015 - 16:51

The Government today bowed to the wishes of the shooters and fishers and the live export lobby to launch a committee inquiry into the operations of the RSPCA, said Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren.  

"I opposed the motion to establish the inquiry, as I believe the RSPCA has sufficient checks and balances through existing accountability mechanisms, and there is no evidence they do not meet or exceed community expectations outside the complaints of disgruntled former employees and board members who didn’t survive the organisation’s restructure,” Ms MacLaren said.

“By rejecting my motion to expand the terms of the inquiry to include the Government’s own operations in animal welfare in the Department of Agriculture and Food, the Government exposed that they have little interest in improving animal welfare in WA.

“This inquiry seeks only to intimidate the RSPCA, not improve enforcement and compliance of welfare.” Read more »

Shooters and Fishers try to shoot down RSPCA

Submitted by Eloise Dortch on Thu, 07/05/2015 - 16:00

A motion by the WA Shooters and Fishers Party for a Parliamentary inquiry into the operations of the RSPCA appears to be a thinly-disguised attempt to discredit a respected charity viewed by the Party as a major obstacle to its broad hunting agenda, Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren said.

“The Shooters and Fishers Party has repeatedly attacked the RSPCA recently, ranging from complaining how the RSPCA spends publicly donated money on advertising to suggesting that the RSPCA is improperly using the $500,000 it receives from the State Government to conduct compliance activities under the Animal Welfare Act,” Ms MacLaren said.

“So far, the Shooters and Fishers Party has been scant on detail in demonstrating the RSPCA has done anything wrong. Read more »

Attack on RSCPA a deliberate distraction

Submitted by Eloise Dortch on Thu, 23/04/2015 - 10:58

A call by the Shooters and Fishers Party for a Parliamentary inquiry into one of WA’s most respected community organisations appears a deliberate attempt to distract attention from ongoing animal welfare problems in WA, Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren says.

“If the Shooters and Fishers Party was genuinely concerned about the implementation of animal welfare laws in WA, it would be talking about the need to improve performance of the State’s Animal Welfare Unit,” Ms MacLaren said.

“The unit, which is within the Department of Agriculture and Food, is chronically under-resourced and is failing to keep up with need across Western Australia.

“Meanwhile, the RSPCA WA, which relies mainly on donations and fundraising and is greatly respected by the community, has been obliged to try to fill the gap that State Government underfunding has created.

Read more »

Government must step in to save WA's State Emblem

Submitted by Eloise Dortch on Thu, 26/03/2015 - 11:11

Greens MLC and Biodiversity Spokeswoman Lynn MacLaren MLC has called on the Barnett Government to intervene in plans for a regional waste tip that threatens the future of WA's wild numbat population. 

"Western Australia's charismatic State emblem, the numbat, once roamed across southern Australia but now there are only two remaining remnant wild populations, the healthiest of which is at Dryandra Woodland near Cuballing, in the Wheatbelt," Ms MacLaren said. 

"Due to a range of pressures, Dryandra now has just 50 numbats, down from 800 in 1992.  Read more »

Urgent, independent inquiry into greyhound racing needed

Submitted by Shane Guthrie on Mon, 16/02/2015 - 18:40

The WA Greens are calling for an urgent inquiry into the West Australian Greyhound Racing Industry after allegations of live baiting practices in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria were revealed on the ABC’s Four Corners program last night. Read more »

Public will oppose Premier’s decade-old rogue shark obsession

Submitted by Shane Guthrie on Tue, 09/12/2014 - 11:15

Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren has backed a new study that has found that the WA Government’s ‘Imminent Threat’ shark policy is largely based on Jaws movie mythology, saying the Premier’s public comments over the past decade reveal an alarming level of determined ignorance. Description: <--break- />

“Back in 2003, the Premier was convinced that a single shark was lurking off Cottesloe, preying on the people of the western suburbs,” Ms MacLaren said.  Read more »

Greens support $90 000 crowd fund campaign to save Margaret River’s Mowen Forest

Submitted by Nadine Walker on Fri, 05/12/2014 - 13:33


Media statement, Friday, 5 December 2014

Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren has today welcomed the launch of a crowd-funded campaign that will aim to raise enough funds to match the slim profit margin proposed by the State Government to log 1600 hectares of native forest in Margaret River. Read more »

1500 Petition Parliament to save Mowen Forest near Margaret River

Submitted by Nadine Walker on Thu, 27/11/2014 - 09:08

Media statement, Thursday, 27 November 2014.

Plans to log a beloved forest for minimal financial gain will be abandoned if the largest petition in recent times gathered by the Margaret River community is successful. The 1500 strong petition, to be tabled today at 10am by Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren, opposes imminent plans to log 1,610 hectares of Margaret River’s Mowen Forest which will destroy threatened fauna habitat, said Ms MacLaren.
  Read more »

Government admits there is no reason to kill sharks

Submitted by Shane Guthrie on Fri, 21/11/2014 - 10:55

Pressed by the Greens in Parliament this week to reveal the logic or research behind its policy of killing sharks in an area after a shark bite has occurred, the Government has admitted that there is none. 

"On behalf of the Premier, the Leader of the Upper House last night admitted the Government has no research or evidence to show that a shark that has bitten a human once is any more likely than the next shark to bite a human again, and yet this assumption is at the heart of the Government's Imminent Threat policy and the justification for killing protected and vulnerable great white sharks," Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren said.  Read more »