Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud has called out the Aussie Farms Map launched today as an anonymous farm shaming website with no real outcomes for animal welfare.
“This website is irresponsible at best,” Minister Littleproud said.
“Putting the locations of farms online could be creating an attack map for activists. This will potentially result in illegal behaviour by activists.
“Farms are people’s homes, not just their businesses. Some farmers have already complained the website claims they run businesses which they do not.
“Further, we don’t know if the footage posted on this website is actually from the farm it is attributed to. Content such as graphic images or video can be uploaded and attached to any farm by anonymous users.
“This potentially encourages activists to trespass and worse after being misled about the practices on that farm. Trespass also has the potential to cause significant bio-security issues that ironically could lead to the death of the animal.
The website, run by charity Aussie Farms, lacks official checks and balances and has a clear agenda.
“Australian producers are some of the cleanest and greenest in the world, are proud of the work they do and are a key pillar of the Australian economy.
“Our farmers play an important role in feeding and clothing people across the world. They deserve to be thanked, not have their addresses published and possible be harassed in their own homes.”
