The concept behind Labor's farm anti-trespass bill has support from Wagga MP Joe McGirr, but the independent has voiced concern at its use of abortion clinic 'safe zone' legal precedents.
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On Wednesday, NSW Labor announced it would introduce 'its own Farming Families Protection Bill', claiming that the National Party's legislation would be vulnerable to a High Court challenge.
Dr McGirr told The Daily Advertiser that he supported protecting farmers and had voted for the government's 'Right to Farm' Bill.
"I do think farmers need extra protection. The question is: Does the Labor act add to that protection?" Dr McGirr said.
"From (Labor's) media release, it suggests that they are going to use the 'Safe Access Zone' concept and it's just not clear how that would work with a farm.
"It was designed specifically for clinics and farms are much larger than clinics and it's not like people turn up to a farm for a service, so it's applying one bit of legislation in a different context and that concerns me."
NSW Parliament passed a Safe Access Zone bill in June last year to ban anti-abortion protests within 50 metres of a clinic.
Opposition primary industries spokeswoman Jenny Aitchison said government figures showed a 27 per cent increase in farm incursions since 2014.
"Labor supports the right of all farmers to live and work on their land safely and peacefully," she said.
Dr McGirr said farmers in the Wagga electorate were more concerned about rural crime at the moment but there was a "growing unease" at the increase in activists entering farms.
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Animal activists have claimed they enter farms to collect images and video of alleged abuse or rescue mistreated animals.
Dr McGirr said there was a range of options for reporting animal cruelty and the government should look at giving more funding to the RSPCA.
In response to a drought support motion moved by Cootamundra MP Steph Cooke, Junee farmer Tony Clough called for more anti-activist protection.
"We need people with jobs, and farmers provide that...they've been doing it for a long time, they have regulations to abide by and the majority do. Why should we have to deal with these activists because of their personal beliefs?" he said.
"It's tough enough as it is without someone trying to tell us how we should be doing it."