Images
When the country comes to town
Agricultural shows have traditionally brought farming life to the city, but how realistic is the image they present? Here, the 2015 Brisbane Agricultural Show (aka the Ekka) educates consumers about cuts of meat, and gives city-dwellers a chance to ‘pat a pig’ and meet a goat in its idyllic ‘mountain’ setting.
Image 1. Cuts of meat at the Ekka. Photogaph by the author.
Image 2. Goats in a ‘mountain’ habitat at the Ekka. Photograph by the author.
Image 3. ‘Pat-a-Pig’ at the Ekka. Photograph by the author.
Advertising: from ‘Feed the man meat’ to ‘The flavour of freedom’
Advertisers continue to link meat-eating with masculinity and Australian identity, although they also increasingly target women (‘1 in 3 women doesn’t get enough iron. Don’t be one of them’). Meanwhile, advertisements for animal products such as free-range chicken claim that ‘happier’ animals produce tastier meals (a marketing strategy mocked as ‘happy meat’ by some animal-welfare activists).
Image 4. ‘You’re better on beef’ Australian advertising campaign. Photograph by the author.
Image 5.‘The flavour of freedom’ is a selling-point for a Sydney pizza chain. Photograph by the author.
Messaging and counter-messaging: Australian veg*n graffiti
Image 6. Sticker on a Sydney street sign. Photograph by the author.
Image 7. Veg*n stencil in Melbourne. Photograph by the author.
Image 8. Vegan poster in Canberra. The addition in pen reads: ‘Stop forcing your opinion on everyone else you vegan Fuck wits!’ Photograph by the author.
Image 9. Polite graffiti in Sydney. Photograph by the author.
Animal protection and Australian political parties
Both left and right have included animal welfare issues in their platforms in recent years.
Image 10. ALP campaign material from the 2013 federal election.
Image 11. Greens NSW stall at the 2015 Cruelty-free Festival in Sydney. Photograph by the author.
Image 12. Far-right Party of Freedom protestors picket the Sydney Halal Expo in 2016. Richard Milnes / Alamy Stock Photo.
Taking to the streets
Animal protection activism in Australia has been described as ‘grassfire’ activism: constantly burning but springing up in new locations unpredictably. More widespread public outrage can break out quickly and unexpectedly – but is also quickly extinguished. Media coverage of live-export practices in 2011 prompted such outbreaks on both sides of the debate.
Image 13. Vegan protesters in Sydney. Photograph by the author.
Image 14. Pro-live-export protestor, Western Australia, 2013. Central Station (centralstation.net.au).
Image 15. Anti-live-export rally in Sydney, 2015. Photograph by the author.
Image 16. A simplified map of the policy network. The higher the number of connections, the larger the node. The different colours represent distinctive clusters or communities within the policy domain. The complete network may be viewed at hdl.handle.net/2123/15349.