Helen White
Wellington, July 25, 2024
On August 12, 2024 at 6 pm at Trades Hall, Grey Lynn, Auckland
Mt Albert Constituents and other New Zealanders can have a say on the revival of live animal exports on August 12, 2024 at 6 pm at Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland (Helen White standing fifth from right)
(Photo Supplied by Office of Helen White)[/caption]
I recently attended a fantastic performance by Anuradha’s School of Indian Dances.
An issue that was raised with a member of the community that night was the restarting of live cattle exports.
This issue is important to me, and I want to take this opportunity to highlight it.
As you may be aware, the National-led government has pledged to restart live animal exports, following Labour’s implementation of a ban in 2023. This has been met with considerable opposition from across the Mt Albert electorate and New Zealand.
I am hosting a public meeting to discuss the consequences of restarting live exports on 12 August at 6 pm at the Trades Hall (147 Great North Road) with former Trade Minister Damien O’Connor, who was the Minister when Labour introduced the ban.
Cruel death of cattle and sailors
I was incredibly proud of the ban, primarily because I believe that transporting live animals across the sea is cruel – animals become crowded, distressed, and seasick. It can also lead to disasters, such as in 2020 when the Gulf Livestock 1 capsized, leading to the death of 41 sailors and 5867 cattle. Restarting live animal exports puts New Zealand’s reputation at risk.
New Zealand acknowledged in law that animals are sentient in the Animal Welfare Act 1999. This is something we can truly be proud of. It was recognised in Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens as world-leading. This legislation has led to some very real improvements in the way we treat animals. We recognised that the crating of pigs is cruel and unnecessary as people and organisations were able to challenge these practices under the law.
Banning Greyhound Racing
Labour has recently committed to banning greyhound racing, another practice which has been recognised as taking far too little notice of the welfare of our animals. I believe that the way we treat animals reflects our basic humanity and I want to see us preserve the ban on live exports.
Recently, I have been meeting with and hearing the concerns of supermarket workers in the Mt Albert electorate. Many have shared how they are impacted by shoplifting.
I get a lot of correspondence about this totally unacceptable behaviour and wanted to hear about it from the workers who are most impacted.
They told me that they are often abused if they challenge this behaviour and that they regularly feel unsafe. Supermarkets across the electorate have different rates of shoplifting and tend to have less where there is a permanent security presence.
Restricted entry and exit points and alcohol being placed in separate spaces are measures that also increase safety for workers.
I really valued the grounded reflections of the supermarket workers I talked to, and the overview given to me by their union official based on the differences between supermarkets.
I am also going out on community patrols as another way to better understand the nature of crime around the electorate to best address it.
Helen White is the elected Member of Parliament from Mt Albert in Auckland. She is the Labour Party’s Spokesperson for Community and Voluntary Sector, Small Business and Manufacturing and Associate Spokesperson for Justice. She hopes to write a regular Column in Indian Newslink.
