Queensland residents draw to the attention of the House the unacceptable distress, pain and injuries calves face in the rodeo event of 'rope and tie'. A University of Queensland scientific study in 2016 found that roping calves around the neck caused ‘an acute stress response’. Increased concentrations of stress hormones were present in calves’ blood after the roping and researchers concluded that roping caused significant stress. In 2017, veterinarian and specialist in anaesthesiology Dr. Jean-Jacques Kona-Boun, analysed hours of footage of calf roping from twenty Canadian rodeos and concluded that calf roping can lead to bodily harm to cervical structures (skin, muscles, larynx, trachea, vertebrates, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels). Because of similar animal welfare concerns, calf roping is no longer allowed at Victorian and South Australian rodeos. Queensland holds more rodeos than any other Australian state so it is important that calves here receive legal protection from such violence. Calf roping is inherently cruel and at odds with community expectations.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to enact a ban on the rodeo event of calf roping in Queensland.