The AJP Victoria Submission to the Greenwashing Senate Inquiry is now available here - we examined the greenwashing of Sodium Fluoroacetate (1080) poison in our submission. 

On 29 March 2023, the Senate referred an inquiry into greenwashing for inquiry and report by 5 December 2023, with the following terms of references:

An inquiry into greenwashing, with particular reference to:

1. the environmental and sustainability claims made by companies in industries including energy, vehicles, household products and appliances, food and drink packaging, cosmetics, clothing and footwear;
2. the impact of misleading environmental and sustainability claims on consumers;
3. domestic and international examples of regulating companies' environmental and sustainability claims;
4. advertising standards in relation to environmental and sustainability claims;
5. legislative options to protect consumers from green washing in Australia; and
6. any other related matters

All interested parties were invited to make a written submission to the consultation process. The closing date for submissions was 31st May 2023.

The Animal Justice Party contributed a 20-page submission to this consultation and made 17 recommendations.

Our Conclusion 

The information provided by government and private agencies about 1080 on the Internet is misleading, deceptive, potentially dangerous and probably designed to deceive consumers into believing 1080 products are safe and non-toxic in the environment.

Our Recommendations

1. Immediately stop all organisations from displaying and promoting incorrect information about 1080 on their websites such as those shown in Diagram 1.
2. Use an independent body, with no vested interests, to check information on government websites so they have scientifically correct information about chemicals.
3. Review the directions on poison labels so they are sufficient to ensure safety.
4. Provide education to people working in the industries that handle 1080 to give them accurate information about the dangers of exposure.
5. Mandate that the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority investigate the claims of “humaneness” when a product is introduced to the market and ensure these claims are tested by independent authorities.
6. Examine the facts about 1080, recognise the danger to biodiversity and phase out its use.
7. Stop poisoning dingoes with 1080 on the pretext they are “wild dogs” and instead develop a program to compensate farmers for proven stock losses.
8. Ensure that methods used to control introduced species or mitigate their damage are non-lethal, humane, effective and species-specific.
9. Investigate, support and promote alternative, non-lethal control measures.
10. Replace lethal population control methods currently used by city councils with humane methods centred on deterrence, care, contraception and relocation – whichever are most appropriate to a specific population.
11. Invest in research for new, humane fertility and biological population control methods for introduced species.
12. Apply The Precautionary Principle: appropriate action should be taken to avoid serious risk and/or irreversible damage to human and environmental health.
13. Ban the use of 1080 in Australia to bring Australia into line with international standards and expectations.
14. Cease the sale of all products containing 1080.
15. Establish a national independent greenwashing enforcement agency to investigate and prosecute companies that are engaging in deceptive greenwashing practices.
16. Require all companies to provide detailed information about environmental practices and the environmental impact of their products.
17. Increase the penalties for greenwashing.

You can download and read our full submission below.