Animal Justice Party Queensland

We are still awaiting a substantive response from the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) regarding the use of motorcycle-mounted pyrotechnic effects at the Bikes & Bulls event in Brisbane.

While DPI has confirmed it is “looking into” whether these effects fall under fireworks legislation, key questions around licensing, enforcement, and how animal stress is assessed remain unanswered.

At the same time, the Brisbane Entertainment Centre is now scheduled to host PBR Origin Round II on 6 June, continuing the use of rodeo-style animal entertainment in a metropolitan venue.

This raises a serious question about whether lessons are being learned when concerns about animal welfare, noise, and pyrotechnic stressors remain unresolved.

We will continue pushing for transparency, accountability, and stronger protections for animals used in entertainment.

What you can do
📧 Contact the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and ask how pyrotechnic effects are being assessed and regulated in rodeo-style events involving animals, and how “undue disturbance” is determined in practice - [email protected]

📧 Contact the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and ask why it continues to host rodeo-style events involving animals while serious welfare concerns remain unresolved, including the use of noise and pyrotechnic effects around confined animals - [email protected]

🔁 Share this post to help increase public awareness and pressure for stronger animal welfare protections.

The Ormiston College approval does not pass the pub test.

A private school has been approved by the LNP State Government to clear more than 650 koala habitat trees, using a Ministerial Infrastructure Designation process rather than the ordinary local council pathway.

To be clear, we are not alleging unlawful conduct.

But we are saying this decision raises serious questions about transparency, public trust and whether Queensland’s planning system is putting private development ahead of wildlife protection.

Amanda Stoker’s Parliamentary Register of Interests lists Ormiston College as an organisation she donated more than $1,178 to during the reporting period. That is publicly available information.

Ormiston College has also had repeated public engagement with LNP representatives, including current Federal Member Henry Pike and former Federal Member Andrew Laming.

Those facts do not prove wrongdoing.

But they do make transparency even more important.

The public has every right to ask:

🐨 Were any actual, potential or perceived conflicts declared?
🐨 Did any LNP representatives advocate for this project?
🐨 Who met with Ormiston College before approval was granted?
🐨 Why was a Ministerial Infrastructure Designation approved for a private school expansion at the expense of core koala habitat?

Koalas lost their habitat.
The community lost trust.

🐾 Queensland needs stronger laws to deal with the most extreme forms of animal cruelty, including sadistic offending and animal sexual abuse.

We are calling for new and updated offence categories similar to reforms already in place in New South Wales, including clearer offences for extreme cruelty, animal sexual abuse, and exploitative animal abuse material.

NSW has already strengthened its legal framework through amendments to the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), including provisions dealing with animal abuse material and more serious forms of cruelty.

Queensland’s current Criminal Code provisions around animal sexual abuse are also outdated and limited in scope. Reform is needed to ensure all forms of this offending are clearly captured in law and properly prosecuted.

Animal cruelty legislation must reflect modern offending behaviour and community expectations.

🌏 World Environment Day – June 5 🌿

Today is a reminder that protecting our environment isn’t optional – it’s essential for the survival of animals, ecosystems, and future generations.

But here in Queensland, the reality is stark:
🐨 Koala habitats are still being cleared, pushing an already threatened species closer to extinction.
🌳 Queensland remains a hotspot for deforestation, driven largely by land clearing for agriculture.
🌊 And the Great Barrier Reef continues to face pressure from climate change and polluted water run-off linked to that clearing.

World Environment Day is more than awareness: it’s a call to act. Protecting nature means tackling the root causes of destruction and putting wildlife first in decision making.

At the Animal Justice Party, we believe:
✔️ Stronger environmental laws are needed
✔️ Habitat protection must be non-negotiable
✔️ Climate action must be urgent and real

Because without a healthy environment, there is no future for animals or us.

🌏💚

🐨💔 Another devastating decision for Redlands wildlife

The Animal Justice Party is deeply disappointed by the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s decision to rule the Birkdale Community Precinct and Redland Whitewater Centre as "not a controlled action" under the EPBC Act.

This decision means no federal environmental assessment, despite clear risks to koalas and critical habitat.

For Redlands, this is another blow to already vulnerable wildlife.

📣 We stand with the community in calling for stronger protections because our koalas and wildlife deserve better.

Redlands residents deserve answers.

The destruction of koala habitat at Ormiston College has left many in our community devastated. In a region where koala populations have already suffered an estimated decline of more than 80% since the late 1990s, every remaining habitat area matters.

What makes this decision even harder to accept is the process.

In 2021, Ormiston College sought approval through Redland City Council. The proposal was reportedly not supported because the site was within a koala priority area and habitat area under Queensland planning laws.

The College then pursued a Ministerial Infrastructure Designation, bypassing the usual local council decision-making process. That application went to the State Government, and was approved by Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie, allowing the clearing of more than 650 koala habitat trees.

At the same time, the LNP Government has moved to overturn Queensland’s ban on property developer donations at the state level, with donation caps significantly increased.

So the public is entitled to ask:

❓Why is a planning pathway designed for community infrastructure being used to approve a private development that will primarily benefit affluent members of the community?
❓Why was core koala habitat approved for clearing?
❓Who really benefits from decisions like this?
And how can Queenslanders have confidence in a system where state-level planning decisions and developer donations are both in the hands of the same government?

We are not asking people to jump to conclusions.

We are asking for transparency.

Because when endangered koalas lose habitat, communities lose trust, and political processes appear to favour development over wildlife - the LNP Government has serious questions to answer.

Redlands koalas deserved better. Queensland deserves better.