Chrissie Hynde is getting political during Pretenders‘ big Aussie tour supporting Stevie Nicks, calling on our Prime Minister to axe a billion-dollar industry.
The rock legendette wants to see Australia ban live exports, an industry she says profits off “abuse of animals”, but also one that — according to the ABC — employs 13,000 people and adds more than $1 million to Australia’s GDP each year.
During her visit down under — and as the votes from the marriage equality postal vote are currently being tallied — Hynde has penned a letter to the PM (and acting Minister For Agriculture) Malcolm Turnbull, urging him to hold a new plebiscite on the issue of live exports.
“Live export is recognized internationally as Australia’s most shameful abuse of animals,” writes the singer and passionate PETA member, who’s been campaigning against our export industry for years now.
“I have protested your country’s live exports to Dubai and elsewhere while touring the Middle East yet still, every year, millions of sheep and cattle endure the worst suffering imaginable aboard these ships.
“…PETA and other groups have repeatedly found that the Australian government cannot guarantee any kind of welfare standards for the animals you send overseas. I’ve never understood how a government could turn a blind eye to the suffering endured by the animals it’s supposed to be protecting.”
Hynde goes on to point out that “Australians abhor cruelty to animals”.
“One Nielsen poll found that 86 per cent of Australians would be more likely to vote for a political candidate who promised to phase out live exports,” she writes.
“Just like marriage discrimination, live export should have been stopped a long time ago. If you can’t lead the way on this moral issue, please ask the Australian public to vote on it.”
Read her full letter below, or catch her remaining list of tour dates with Pretenders — both headlining and supporting the great Stevie Nicks — here.
Chrissie Hynde Letter To Malcolm Turnbull
Dear Prime Minister,
I’m very pleased to be in Australia to witness the power of the people in action for marriage
equality. As the final votes are tallied, I hope you’ll now consider a public ballot on another
indisputable injustice—live-animal exports.
Live export is recognized internationally as Australia’s most shameful abuse of animals. I
have protested your country’s live exports to Dubai and elsewhere while touring the Middle
East yet still, every year, millions of sheep and cattle endure the worst suffering imaginable
aboard these ships.
Consider the plight of these sheep, discarded by the wool industry and then crammed inside a
boat among thousands of other frightened animals. They suffer from intense heat, and the air
becomes thick with ammonia, as weeks’ worth of urine and feces accumulate at their feet.
Last year, thousands of sheep died on just one ship bound for the Middle East. The exact
death toll is not known, since their bodies decomposed so rapidly in the sweltering heat.
If the heat doesn’t kill them, the severe crowding of other animals, as they rush toward the air
vents, might. Others starve or become dehydrated because they’re unable to reach food and
water troughs. When they finally reach dry land, they watch helplessly as their companions’
throats are slit with a dull blade in a filthy marketplace until, finally, it’s their turn.
PETA and other groups have repeatedly found that the Australian government cannot
guarantee any kind of welfare standards for the animals you send overseas. I’ve never
understood how a government could turn a blind eye to the suffering endured by the animals
it’s supposed to be protecting.
Australians abhor cruelty to animals. One Nielsen poll found that 86 per cent of Australians
would be more likely to vote for a political candidate who promised to phase out live exports.
Just like marriage discrimination, live export should have been stopped a long time ago. If
you can’t lead the way on this moral issue, please ask the Australian public to vote on it.
Yours truly,
Chrissie Hynde
