It’s time for serious action to be taken again anti-farm extremists. The Conservative Party is appalled at the lack of decisive action by police and the lack of any meaningful condemnation, or sanctions from the major parties.
The Australian reports, yesterday we saw what could be the most widespread, co-ordinated attack on Australia’s food supply chain in our history.
At least half a dozen processing facilities were broken into, with extremist protesters chaining themselves to equipment; it took hours for them to be removed.
This brand of reckless criminal behaviour poses significant risks to the safety of our food, the welfare of the animals in these facilities, and the safety of staff and the extremists themselves. That’s not to mention the direct financial cost to these law-abiding, family-owned businesses.
Yesterday’s attacks follow a bombardment of activist trespass incidents on farms in recent months, spurred on by the publication of an online map that highlights farm locations and encourages extremists to take the law into their own hands.
We’ve seen groups of 100 people, clad in black uniforms, storming on to farms while streaming live on social media platforms. Their tactics are simple: to bully, threaten and intimidate.
It’s important to remember these properties are not just places of business, they are also family homes where right now farm kids should be enjoying school holidays.
The organised and systematic terrorising of these families in their own homes says a lot about how far these groups will go in the name of their radical beliefs.
This was further highlighted by yesterday’s Melbourne CBD protest, where children were used to prevent police from using force.
The most alarming part of the extremist onslaught is that the law seems powerless to help.
More often than not, despite overwhelming evidence provided by the extremists’ footage, no arrests are made.
Those who have been charged are given a fine equivalent to a parking ticket and sent off with no criminal record.
As a result, reoffending is the norm.
Aussie Farms and other groups co-ordinating these attacks remain registered charities – a privilege that should have been revoked months ago.
These green-collar criminals, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison describes them, need jail time and criminal records to signal that their illegal actions are dangerous, threatening and contrary to the rule of law.
