Mr J. BULL (Sunbury) — I am very pleased to contribute to debate on the Primary Industries Legislation Amendment Bill 2016. As we have heard, this bill amends six principal acts: the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Act 1992, the Domestic Animals Act 1994, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986, the Public Administration Act 2004 and the Veterinary Practice Act 1997, as well as the Wildlife Act 1975. Previously in the house I have spoken about the importance of good care and treatment of all animals, and it is something I feel particularly passionate about. I certainly know that this bill, in many of its clauses, addresses some of the failings in our current laws, tightens some of the loopholes that presently exist and provides greater protection for wildlife and animals.

While it is important to care for animals, it is imperative to be mindful of those who do a great job in protecting animals in our community. I certainly want to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of those staff and volunteers who do such a wonderful job in helping our community look after animals. I am a member of the Labor Animal Welfare Network, a dedicated group of passionate members who advocate for the very best for animals. Last sitting week I know a number of members in the house joined me and Dr Chris Brown at a pet-friendly event. I thought this was a really interesting insight into animal ownership across the nation. I was certainly surprised to learn that pet ownership is actually declining in Australia, and that is something that I know a lot of people were surprised to learn. There are a number of reasons for that that the lead speakers at that event outlined. It left me with things to think about when we left that event.

The last issue to cover — and I know the previous speaker mentioned this as well — is the pit bull registration legislation. It is fair to say that there are a number of complexities that surround the regulatory framework in this area. Rules about ownership and registration sometimes cannot easily be explained. Currently owners of pit bulls are required to implement a number of restrictions on their dogs, such as obligatory registration, secure arrangements in the house, muzzling and keeping the dog on a leash at all times in public and observe a prohibition on breeding. The current act makes it impossible to register a pit bull that was not in Victoria prior to 2011, based solely on its breed. Any dog which cannot be registered, as has been identified by a council officer, needs to be seized and euthanased.

I certainly know that the previous speaker spoke about the challenges and the financial obligations that councils were experiencing as a result of these changes, and I think it is worth acknowledging the complexity of this legislation and certainly the ramifications in terms of ensuring that we get this right. The tragic death in 2011 of Ayen Chol was mentioned previously. I think we all need to learn from these things, and a number of things obviously had to be faced and a number of challenging decisions made by the minister at the time.

I think that we still need to understand through the committee process the very best way to proceed with this matter. The crux of the bill is the recognition of owning a pet. The moratorium on destroying restricted breeds until September 2017 will prevent the unnecessary destruction of pit bulls. Certainly the economy and infrastructure committee’s report into the current framework is a very important one. I know that councils, including my local council of Hume, have expressed concern about the hardships that are faced, but it is more important, I think, that we get this right so that people are protected in our community and we are not destroying and harming animals just based on the fact that we consider them to be bad dogs.

We know the amendment will also toughen the consequences for individuals who breach the Wildlife Act 1975. Currently the act contains many serious offences, such as the hunting of endangered species and hunting outside of game season, and these are certainly important considerations. I do note that the previous speaker went to some length in discussing this amendment.

There was certainly an area that to me was an important and I would say highly concerning discovery in my research for this bill — that is, that the Australian Veterinarian Journal has estimated that vets in Victoria have a suicide rate that is 3.8 times greater than the general population. Factors such as working in isolation, long hours, limited holiday opportunities due to the difficulty of recruiting, difficult client relations and obviously the constant emotional trauma of seeing animals die contribute to the fact that one-third of veterinary practitioners report poor psychological health. If I think of the vets who have dealt with our family animals over the years in Sunbury, we have had some terrific vets. I always think that vets are just extraordinary in the way that they are incredibly — —

Ms McLeish interjected.

Mr J. BULL — Dr Napthine was not in Sunbury, but we had some outstanding veterinarians and they would always go above and beyond — —

Mr McCurdy interjected.

Mr J. BULL — He probably was a good vet.

These vets would go above and beyond in helping and assisting the family when we lost a pet or had a sick pet. Other members may tell me otherwise, but I certainly know that it was a great surprise to me that there is a significantly high percentage of vets who suffer severe mental illness. When you look at the facts and go down the list and see these things, it makes perfect sense. I think that along with our emergency services — our paramedics — these are great challenges that face government, and it is certainly an important thing that this house needs to understand.

There are provisions in this legislation that will allow the Veterinary Practitioners Registration Board of Victoria to streamline the process of administration to limit access to controlled drugs by suspending the registration of a veterinarian during a formal hearing. By closing this loophole, we allow the veterinarian who is subject to a formal hearing to reduce the sanctions against them by becoming unregistered.

I strongly believe that the welfare of our wildlife, the care of our pets and of course, as I have just outlined, the health and wellbeing of our veterinarians are of great importance to the wellbeing of the community. I certainly think that all members of the house would agree with me on that, and I very happily commend the bill to the house.