The Queensland Farmers’ Federation has again called for bipartisan action from the State Parliament to increase and implement effective punishments for activists trespassing on farmers’ properties who show no regard for the law or respect for other people.
This comes after the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee recommended the LNP Opposition’s Private Members Bill, which proposed three new criminal trespass offences, should not be passed.
QFF President Stuart Armitage encouraged the Queensland Parliament to work together to find a bipartisan solution to protect farmers, their families and their businesses.
“Over the past couple of years, the actions of animal activists towards legitimate businesses have become more disruptive and extreme. These actions invade farmers’ privacy, threaten the welfare of their animals, pose unacceptable risks to their businesses and have implications for food security,” Mr Armitage said.
“The current offence of unlawfully entering farming land does not meet the expectations of farmers and the community. It does not appropriately punish repeat offenders nor prevent future offences of trespass on farms and does not reflect the potential risk to farming businesses.”
“With the government’s Agriculture and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 recently receiving committee approval and waiting for its day in Parliament, we ask both sides of politics to work together to realise more effective laws for Queenslanders.”
“Parliament was slow to react to this issue – particularly for those farmers who have already been targeted by animal activists – so now that the issue is starting to be addressed in a meaningful way there can be no excuses for not getting it right.”