Tourism Australia Taken to Task Over ‘Embarrassing’ Meat-Heavy Meals at Events

Posted on 12 September 2024 at 7:42AM by PETA Australia

Rainforests on fire, reefs bleached of colour, ski slopes without a snowflake in sight…

Bad news for the Australian tourism industry and popular holiday hotspots this week as a new report warned that almost 68 percent of Australian holiday hotspots – including Uluru, the Daintree Rainforest and Bondi Beach – are at major risk from the current climate crisis.

The report prompted PETA to write to Phillipa Harrison, Managing Director of Tourism Australia, a government body tasked with promoting Australia locally and abroad, urging them to stop serving lavish animal-product laden meals as their events.

Through its work promoting Australia as a vacation destination, Tourism Australia throws regular soirees, some featuring hundreds of kilograms of dead sea animals, some showcasing cow or flesh, and many centred platters and desserts full of dairy and egg, despite mounting evidence that meat and other animal products are environmentally destructive.

Meat Equals Heat

Everyone knows that menu items that come from animals represent unthinkable animal cruelty, but they’ve also been linked to enormous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions including methane, largely produced by grazing animals like sheep and cows.

Methane is up to 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the atmosphere during the two decades following its release, and the average ruminant animal is responsible for generating around 250-500 litres of methane a day. When you consider that Australia is home to some 75 million sheep, 27 million beef cattle and 2 million dairy cows, that’s a lot of gas. No wonder Australia is struggling to meet its climate targets!

Australia is also the developed world’s only deforestation hot spot, with most clearing – including of koala habitat – being done to make room for grazing animals, while sediment, nitrogen, and pesticide from nearby farms encourage algae growth and decrease water quality on the reef.

The Government Must Stop Ignoring the Cow in the Room

It’s a no-brainer that the nation’s peak tourism body should work to protect the future of the tourism industry by showcasing Australia’s homegrown plant produce – plus over 5,000 unique bush foods – at events, but the responsibility also lies with the wider government – and each of us.

Research shows that vegan eating results in 75 percent less climate-heating emissions, water pollution, and land use than meat-heavy consumption. That means YOU can help save the planet just by downloading you FREE Vegan Starter Kit and choosing delicious, healthy vegan foods.

You can also call on the Australian government to pull their shameful funding of the meat industry and back plant farmers instead by signing PETA’s action alert.