2023-11-03
The Victorian Greens have said this year’s Melbourne Cup must be the last, and have called on Labor to spend less money propping up the racing industry and more on supporting people doing it tough.
Last year, a record 168 horses were killed on Australian racetracks. And year on year, we see the horrible suffering of horses at the hands of the brutal racing industry.
Despite this, in this year’s State Budget Labor spent four times as much on the racing industry than it did on people experiencing housing stress or homelessness.
Victorian Greens animals spokesperson, Katherine Copsey, said the Melbourne Cup was nothing more than gambling-fuelled animal cruelty.
She said more and more Victorians were saying “nup to the Cup” each year, and that it was time Labor finally listened.
In fact, thanks to the tireless work of animal welfare campaigners, the social licence of the Cup has steadily eroded. This year’s Melbourne Cup parade was even cancelled.
The Greens say the Cup itself should be next.
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens animals spokesperson, Katherine Copsey MLC:
“Every year the Greens call on the state government to end animal cruelty at the hands of our racing industry – and every year the government tries to pretend they have no power to stop it.
“We want to see the Melbourne Cup cancelled this year to protect punters from the dangerous harms of gambling and horses from unnecessary cruelty and pain.”