STATE parliament erupted into a "shouting match" recently when The Nationals WA leader Mia Davies questioned Premier Mark McGowan on when new laws would be introduced to protect farmers from trespassers and animal activists.
Despite this issue being a hot topic for the past seven to eight months due to farm invasions and vegan protestors attempting to disrupt trade and impose their will on livestock producers and facilities, the State government has not increased the penalties for those convicted of trespass.
Ms Davies launched a scathing attack, saying the State government had "broken its promise to deliver legislation aimed at deterring animal activists as a priority", especially after the Premier admitted no legislation had been drafted yet and refused to commit to a timeframe for its introduction.
State Attorney General John Quigley said in parliament in June that it was "the government's intent to amend the appropriate section of the Criminal Code to both increase the fines and the maximum term of imprisonment that can be imposed and to have orders that will be made at the time of sentencing in addition to any other penalty imposed, and that these orders will be made except in the most exceptional circumstances".
"The orders themselves will not be part of a bail condition, but will be part of the sentencing process," Mr Quigley said.
"These matters are in the cabinet process at the moment.
"Once they have cleared through the Parliamentary Counsel's Office, we will bring legislation into Parliament as soon as reasonably practicable."
Ms Davies accused the State government of "dragging its heels" - especially when Mr Quigley had "presented a submission to Cabinet back in June".
"Since then we haven't heard a peep about any new legislation, increased trespass penalties or the community-based orders that have been repeatedly promised," Ms Davies said.
Mr McGowan told Parliament last week that "the legislation will be introduced when it is drafted".
"We cannot introduce legislation if it has not been drafted," Mr McGowan said.
He also wouldn't comment on a timeframe for the legislation, something Ms Davies said was anyone's guess.
"While the McGowan government has its head in the sand, criminal activists continue to intimidate and harass lawfully operating farms and businesses with apparent impunity," Ms Davies said.
She said statistics obtained by The Nationals WA from Police Minister Michelle Roberts showed the issue wasn't going away.
"In the first six months of 2019 there were more than 500 instances of trespass and more than 170 incidents of livestock, agricultural equipment or machinery theft recorded on rural properties," she said.
"Despite these alarming statistics, Labor has done nothing to dissuade the criminal actions of animal activists."
Ms Davies said the Premier's remarks continued to expose the State government as "all hat and no cattle" when it came to standing up for regional farmers, families and communities.
Mr McGowan said it was "an important issue" and that "a lot of regional communities and farming families would like to see some action taken here".
"Obviously, the government has made it a priority and we are working on it," he said.
"Obviously, when we draft legislation, we have to take account of every potential nuance and what could potentially happen, to make sure that we deal with those things.
"There are some complexities around this.
"We are working hard and the Attorney General is working hard on the issue."
Green Shirts Movement WA spokesman Alan Sattler said Mr McGowan's comments were "bulldust".
"The McGowan government is useless when it comes to helping the regions and farmers - they have already proved that," Mr Sattler said.
"There is no complexity when you have people invading your property - it's trespass pure and simple.
"All they need to do is raise the minimum penalty of a conviction and increase the penalties overall - make it two years imprisonment and a $50,000 fine.
"It's not a big deal."
The current penalty for trespass is a maximum of 12 months in jail and a $12,000 fine.
Mr Sattler said what some activists had received as a consequence of their behaviour was "laughable" and that was why they were still actively targeting the meat and livestock sectors.
