Nash Stuart: Animal Welfare Amendment Bill — Procedure In Committee 
Nash Stuart: Animal Welfare Amendment Bill — Procedure In Committee 
[Volume:664;Page:11842] 
STUART NASH (Labour) 
: 
 It is good to be able to clarify a rumour that went around. I had heard that the Government took the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill off Mr Bridges who has just resumed his seat because it did not think he was quite ready to take this bill through its passage in the House so they gave it to Mr David Carter the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Forestry. But if I am wrong and that is not the reason the Government took the bill off Mr Bridges then I apologise because I thought that was the reason. To anyone else who thought that was the reason I say that it is obviously not right at all. However I must admit I heard Mr Bridges speak on National Radio about this bill when it was introduced. I thought he spoke OK but not as well as he does on television. He was OK. But then again it is very difficult to sound bad when one is talking about a bill that addresses the serious issue of animal cruelty. Obviously we are all supporting this bill but there is one point on which I would disagree with Mr Bridges. He said that this bill represents Parliament at its best. We all agree on this issue but I think Parliament is at its best when it is dealing with the issues that affect New Zealanders—poor New Zealanders. There is $8 million provided against cruelty for animals and that is great but how about $13 million for Adult and Community Education courses? I think that would have gone a long way to alleviating some of the problems we have in society. 
One of the points I would like to bring up and it follows on from my colleague Carol Beaumont’s points is that there is often a very strong link between animal cruelty and other much more insidious types of cruelty. I would like to read something. As we all know tackling animal cruelty can have a beneficial impact upon society which is the reason why we are passing this bill. But there is a very strong link between the cruel treatment of animals and the abuse of humans. A 1997 survey by the Humane Society of the United States showed that 50 of the largest shelters for battered women in the United States found that 85 percent of women and 63 percent of children entering shelters discussed incidents of pet abuse in the family. That is a pretty insidious statistic. We all hear of these statistics around Guy Fawkes Night for example when wayward children misinformed children or whoever have attached firecrackers to animals or have inflicted cruelty on animals and it is just dreadful. It is time to send a very very clear message to New Zealanders. This is one of the things that Parliament can do by passing this legislation. I am aware that only 10 people have gone to jail for offences of cruelty to animals and the incidence of successful prosecutions is quite low. But passing a bill like this sends a very clear message that society will just not tolerate this type of behaviour any longer. It is unacceptable. 
The main aim of this bill obviously is to amend the Animal Welfare Act 1999 but it introduces the new offence of reckless ill-treatment of animals. What does reckless ill-treatment mean? Section 28A inserted by clause 5 provides that a person recklessly ill-treats an animal if that treatment results in “(a) the animal is permanently disabled; or (b) the animal dies; or (c) the pain or distress caused to the animal is so great that it is necessary to destroy the animal in order to end its suffering; or (d) the animal is seriously injured or impaired.” It is a sad indictment on society that we are passing a bill like this in the first place. Sue Kedgley talked about cruelty to farm animals as did Carol Beaumont. I think that people can differentiate between farm animals and family pets. However I also believe that pictures of cruelty to any types of animals that are flashed across our TV screens draw gasps of horror from ordinary New Zealanders whether they are pictures of an emaciated cow a horse that has come from a Crafar farm or a dog that has been fed a bunch of kittens. It is something that strikes a nerve with New Zealanders. This cruelty is just downright insidious. 
A pet is part of the family; let us be honest about this. Some members have stood up and talked about their pets. My partner Sarah’s cat Mozzarella gets treated better than I do at times. It eats steak; I get mince. There is no doubt who rules the couch if not the roost in our house. I know that on occasion these pictures of animal cruelty are flashed up on the TV screens— 
Hon Member 
: You’re jealous. 
STUART NASH 
: Yes I am jealous; occasionally. But when these pictures are flashed up on our TV screens Sarah just turns right off. My daughter who is 8 years old just looks at the pictures and says: “How can anyone do that daddy?”.