Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Today is the day of action for greyhounds, organised by Animal Liberation. Right across the country, people who care about animals are speaking up for greyhounds. These dogs continue to be exploited, overbred, injured and killed by an industry that values gambling profits over the welfare of greyhounds. I've been campaigning with animal advocates and activists for years to shut down the greyhound racing industry because I know it is rotten to the core. It kills and maims dogs, fuels a worsening rehoming crisis and, shamefully, is still being propped up by public subsidies.

In New South Wales we are waiting for yet another government report, and we expect the same excuses and for them to name a few bad apples, offer one more chance and pour more public money into cruelty. The New South Wales Labor government is hooked on gambling donations from companies like TAB and Sportsbet, and it is turning a blind eye to the deaths of greyhounds on and off tracks.

The gambling and racing industries have a truly corrosive influence on our society and on our democracy. They prey on vulnerable people and are built on the cruelty and death of racing animals.

Meanwhile, New Zealand has shown real leadership by recommitting to a ban on greyhound racing. As our friends at the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds point out, 15 deaths were enough for their racing minister to recommit to the ban. In the same period, 119 greyhounds were killed on tracks in Australia. And here? Nothing.

Australia is one of the last countries on earth to still allow greyhound racing. It is time to end this cruelty once and for all and let these beautiful doggos run for fun, not their lives.