"There is no place for cruelty to animals in a civilised society," said Democrats’ leader, Mike Elliott, at the launch of the party’s Animal Welfare platform today (see attached).

"Yet the current situation in South Australia is allowing unscrupulous people to get away with uncivilised acts.

"One prominent example is that of battery hens.

"Battery cage hens have to live their lives in a space smaller than an A4 piece of paper. These hens are often debeaked and are often gashed by cage wire.

"These hens develop brittle bones, cannot stretch out their wings, perch, nest or lay eggs in a quiet place.

"The European Union has issued a directive to phase out this practice, while in Switzerland battery cages have been banned for over a decade. Yet in Australia this practice of animal abuse is still widespread.

"We have waited for the Minister to act for far too long, that is why our platform promises to ban and phase out battery hen cages.

"Another example is that of culling.

"The State Government has repeatedly opted for the option of culling native birds, rather than supporting more humane alternative strategies based on proper research and monitoring.

"It seems that this Government opts to shoot first and ask questions later.

"Where culling, occurs it must be as last resort and must conform to a code of conduct so that no animal suffers.

"Our pledge is to introduce this code of conduct and base any decision to cull on sound independent data."

Current practices that are presently allowed under South Australia’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 give plenty of scope for cruelty to animals.

• Battery Hens: The Australian Democrats seek to phase out battery hen farms in South Australia. Democrats’ legislation will only permit forms of containment that allow individual fowl to fulfil their basic behavioural needs. This legislation will phase out battery hen cages and introduce alternative systems by 2006.