Australia's government proposes stricter laws for vegan activists

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‍In an effort to better protect farmers from animals rights activists, Australia's government wants to increase penalties in relation to protesters who enter farms illegally. The move is in response to an increase in vegan activist protests.

"People are feeling threatened. It is a personal invasion of their space, I mean, these are our homes, that is where we live, we live on our farms and we live and breath our animals," said New South Wales Farmers Association president James Jackson.

The issue was highlighted earlier this month when nearly 40 vegan activists blocked a Melbourne intersection during the busy morning rush. Dozens of people were arrested, some had to be dragged away, and received little sympathy from some commuters who were impacted by the protests.

Animal rights protesters block an intersection of Flinders and Swanston Street in Melbourne, Australia, April 8, 2019. /Reuters

"There's many other avenues to do it; there's different times to do it. I mean why can't they do it on the corner of the road and allow people to have a thoroughfare. I mean, absolutely, get the word out there about animal rights, but not this way," said one woman.

The proposed laws would include jail time for people who publish the personal information of farmers and incite others to trespass on those properties.

"The animal rights people going on to people's properties is always to do with documenting how the animals are being treated, they are not after the people involved," said Greg McFarlane, director of Vegan Australia.

While some farmers have turned to social media to voice their frustration, others are calling for farmers to fight back.

"There certainly is always a concern about that, and I would counsel people not to do it. I think that fits into their business model, it gives them the notoriety they would possibly want to martyr to rally around," said Jackson.

(Top image: VCG Photo)

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