Qualified lawyer, animal lover, former chief of staff and occasional pole dancer, Georgie Purcell from Kyneton, has been elected as a representative of the Animal Justice Party with just 1.5 per cent of the first preference vote.
The party is against animal circus entertainments, horse racing, greyhound racing and duck shooting, and wants to end animal agriculture.
The party wants to see recreational use of marijuana legalised and easing of restrictions on whistleblowers who protest on farms.
The upper house’s Northern Victoria Region, which has five elected representatives, includes Bendigo, Eildon, Euroa, Mildura, Wodonga, Shepparton, Echuca, Benalla and Heathcote.
Northern Victoria’s livestock industry has a billion-dollar annual turnover. The industry in Greater Shepparton alone generates an annual gross value of $100 million.
The Animal Justice Party wants to see a phase-out of animal industries to be replaced by plant-based diets, and a withdrawal of all government funding for research for animal industries.
The policies include a prohibition on the advertising of animal products.
The Liberal Party’s Wendy Lovell was re-elected as one of the Members for Northern Victoria. She said she was concerned about the rise of the Animal Justice Party’s Georgie Purcell.
“That's a very hard-left party that doesn’t represent this region in our agricultural industries or our recreational industries here,” Ms Lovell said.
Although the Animal Justice Party has only one member in parliament, Ms Lovell said the micro parties could not be taken lightly, as the Labor Government does not have the numbers in the upper house and the government was likely to do deals with the cross-bench to get its legislative agenda through.
VFF president Emma Germano believes Ms Purcell will have less influence than her predecessor, Andy Meddick, who lost his seat at the last election, due to the make-up of the upper house.
She recognised that some of the party policies were anti-farming, but said the farming community should not be panicked into a shouting contest with ideologically-driven minor parties.
“We need to respond with logic. Most people choose to eat meat, for example. We need to recognise that,” Ms Germano said.
One issue the conservative parties and Animal Justice may have in common is the policy to stop the fatal elimination of brumbies in national parks, including Barmah.
The five Members for Northern Victoria, in order they were elected at the November 26 poll, are: Wendy Lovell (Liberal), Jaclyn Symes (Labor), Gaelle Broad (Nationals), Georgie Purcell (Animal Justice) and Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell (One Nation).
The Shooters and Fishers Party picked up five per cent of the first preference votes but that wasn’t enough to get across the line, nor the Greens with six per cent, due to the allocation of preferences.
Ms Purcell could not be contacted for comment.
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