2022-10-25
The Melbourne Cup is on again next week. Seven horses have been killed at the last nine Melbourne Cup races. And that's just part of the story. The horseracing industry continues to tolerate cruel practices like whipping and tongue-tying, and the overbreeding and slaughter of horses continues.
This gambling fuelled animal cruelty in the name of entertainment should have ended a long time ago. But we know the racing industry is very powerful and well connected. Their interests are protected and advanced over and above animals and people. In Melbourne, the construction of a flood wall protected the Flemington racecourse from damaging floodwaters recently, while flooding was made much worse for people living in the surrounding area. That's the scale of influence the gambling and racing industries have. They will let nothing interrupt the Cup carnival—not even the global pandemic, as it turned out.
Every year the spring races receive tremendous amounts of glowing coverage from media publications, with dedicated racing journalists and the form guide. An analysis by Crikey found that the Everest horserace, held in Sydney in October, attracted enormous positive media coverage, particularly in the Nine papers. On 17 October, Crikey reported:
Since October 9 The Sydney Morning Herald and its Sunday sister The Sun-Herald have published 58 articles on The Everest. These stories profiled mares from both human and horse perspectives, stroked the egos of trainers, talked in fairy-tale terms of "heroes" and "villains", workshopped solutions for horse hay fever …
This uncritical garbage is tolerated because there is a powerful group of vested interests here that mutually benefit from the ongoing relevance and monetary advantage that horseracing brings to them, so they wilfully ignore the treatment of animals and the gambling harm on society. The major parties fill up their pockets with donations from gambling companies, the media relies on huge amounts of advertising from the industry, and this horrendous cycle goes on.
But it doesn't have to be this way. The end of horseracing is not some fantasy. The industry has effectively lost its social licence, and more and more people are boycotting the Melbourne Cup every year. According to a recent independent poll, commissioned by my office, 54 per cent of those polled and 70 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds agree that horses should not be raced for gambling and entertainment. It's way past time to say nup to the Cup and nup to this gambling fuelled cruelty. Just shut it down.
In the next couple of minutes, I would like to address another topic. Since 1947, the year the British carved up and departed the Indian subcontinent, after centuries of lives taken, of looting and extracting wealth and resources, Kashmir has been a disputed territory. The date 27 October has been marked by the Kashmiris as Black Day and many around the globe show solidarity with them and their fight for self-determination.
For decades, India has tried to hide what is happening in Kashmir by silencing Kashmiri voices. The oppression and violence has dramatically escalated under the regime of current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2019 the Indian government revoked the special status of Kashmir, which had allowed it some autonomy, and imposed a brutal crackdown on dissent. Kashmir was cut off from the world, with internet and mobile communications suspended. Compliant multinational tech companies removed posts, blocked videos and shut down accounts trying to expose this brutality. The Modi government has also used draconian laws to silence journalists and activists, while Indian armed forces have stepped up their presence on Kashmir's streets, with many new security checkpoints established.
The people of Kashmir have the right to sovereignty and self-determination, but these rights have been trampled on for far too long. Entire generations of Kashmiris have grown up knowing nothing but conflict. Amnesty International reports that there have been more than 50,000 lives lost since 1989. Still, Kashmiris are courageously resisting.
I urge the Albanese government to break the indefensible silence of the previous Morrison government on human rights abuses against Kashmiris. The Labor government must condemn the Modi administration for its human rights abuses in Kashmir and support the rights of Kashmiris to self-determination.