Its time to criminalise all animal abuse
Today Abigail voted in support for the criminalisation of the possession and distribution of crush and bestiality videos in New South Wales. That this is not already a criminal offence is a huge oversight in animal cruelty legislation. The motion was successful.
In supporting the motion, Abigail said: On behalf of The Greens I support the motion and thank the Hon. Emma Hurst for bringing it before the House. Animal cruelty of any kind is reprehensible and the specific kinds of animal cruelty that the Hon. Emma Hurst has drawn to our attention today are particularly heinous.
The sexual abuse of animals and abuse of animals for the sexual gratification of humans must not just be condemned but actively combated. That is what the motion calls for today. Legislation that seeks to wipe out other crimes that are driven in some part by sexual fetish, such as child sexual abuse depicted in child pornography, criminalises not just the abuse itself but the creation, distribution and possession of materials which depict this abuse.
That legislation is a necessary part of our laws. It allows the prosecution of those who incentivise further abuse and gives police the powers needed to investigate this abuse. Animals have no capacity to consent to pain or sexual acts. There is no question about the moral depravity of bestiality or so-called animal crush.
We criminalise acts of sexual violation and animal cruelty for good reason. State or Federal legislation that does not also criminalise the distribution or possession of videos which depict these acts is surely an oversight. There is a gap in the law and we have a responsibility to try to fill that gap. The Greens join the call of the Hon. Emma Hurst to urgently criminalise these depraved acts.
For the full transcript see Hansard here.