BOTH Adam Marshall and Barnaby Joyce would agree that they don’t always agree.
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Our two representatives have different views on the NSW greyhound ban, due to come into force next July.
This issue first came to light in a Four Corners program that showed live baiting being used by greyhound trainers.
Mr Joyce compared it to the ban on live exports – which he opposed – which was also prompted by an episode of Four Corners that showed blatant cruelty to animals.
In that instance, there was footage of cattle being mistreated in an Indonesian abattoir after being exported from Australia. The live exports were halted that week.
The episode that exposed the greyhound racing industry showed live animals were being mistreated and it prompted an inquiry.
While the resulting ban wasn’t as hasty, that program prompted an inquiry into the sport and that inquiry has led to the Baird government making the sport illegal in NSW.
And that won’t happen until July next year.
The greyhound racing industry has since called on Members of State Parliament to give its industry the opportunity to prove it could change.
But they has been to no avail with the legislation passing through parliament to ban the sport.
Politicians from the same party, but different parliaments, disagreeing is nothing new. And there are pros and cons on both sides of the argument regarding the sport of greyhound racing.
State and federal governments have often disagreed, and regardless of party lines, they are there to represent their electorates.
So we can understand why Mr Joyce would be less than pleased with the decision made by the Baird Government.
He sees it as an unfair attack on an industry that is comparable with the live export ban imposed by the Gillard Government in 2011.
But Mr Marshall does have a valid point when he suggests Mr Joyce he take the time to read the Special Commission of Inquiry report and the previous two NSW Parliamentary Inquiry reports into the greyhound industry.
Our country is always better served by politicians working together and finding compromises than simply shooting from the hip.