The Animal Justice Party - Sue Clarke & Linda McCarthy

Beyond The Rona

Suzanne Clarke is the Federal Candidate for Rankin and Linda McCarthy is the Federal Candidate for Forde representing the Animal Justice Party - https://animaljusticeparty.org/ - for this upcoming federal election.

We begin this episode with Sue explaining how the Animal Justice Party (AJP) began and she explains that it was in response to the issue of Kangaroo Slaughter which the AJP is strongly against.

(Sorry, NBN let us down for the video on this one in parts!)

Some of the topics we discuss during this episode:

• Puppy farming and backyard breeding of animals and the fact that owning rescue animals has become popular / fashionable now
• Greyhound racing: the fact that it was successfully stopped in Logan in 2017 but is still continuing in Ipswich, and online gambling in Logan for Greyhound racing still continues
• The impact of consuming animal products on Climate Change: Sue and Linda state that we should be assisted to transition to eliminate or reduce our meat consumption in order to assist with the Climate Crisis
• Veganism: the cost, whether they experience any health problems, what is it like going plant-based now
• The meat industry: Sue and Linda state that the government subsidises the meat industry, however, meat is expensive for people to buy, and that consumer demand for plant based products will decrease the price. They discuss that we need a transition plan for workers as transitioning won’t happen overnight. They agree that the meat and livestock industry is reluctant to change. Sue and Linda discuss the media’s role in messaging for our diet and believe that barriers are put in place that are deliberately supportive of the meat industry rather than to support people transitioning to plant based diets
• AJP believes that going plant based uses less water, less land and less energy from the planet
• We briefly discussed animal welfare and the recent floods
• AJP works closely with Animal Liberation Queensland to advocate for animal rights
• We discussed the popularity in Logan of people having snakes and other reptiles as pets, wildlife zoos and the Animal Justice Party position on captivity of animals at Seaworld and within the tourism industry
• Sue and Linda discuss the Live Trade Export Industry and the efforts of the Animal Justice Party to shut this industry down. They agree that we need a transition for farmers for this industry too

Sue's 3 Big Ideas:

1. Less Gambling in Logan eg: Stop Greyhound Racing
2. Action on Climate Change
3. Address Animal Agriculture to address the spread of further viruses spreading

Linda's 3 Big Ideas:

1. Adopt - don’t shop for animals/pets
2. Desex your pets
3. Transition to Clean Energy

Beyond the Rona Podcast is recorded in Logan, Queensland on Yuggera country.

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