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Farmers ridicule MP over children
16 Jul 2004
Farmers have ridiculed Victorian politicians' understanding of farm life, following a statement by MP Bob Smith that they're using children as "slave labour". Mr Smith claimed farm children are "terribly oppressed" and required to handle many dangerous tasks, including animals which could kill them.
Mr Smith was defending the Victorian Government's child employment laws that require relatives to have permits to employ children. He said Farmsafe Australia figures show one child is killed every 10 days on farms and more than 11 children are taken to hospital each week with farm-related injuries.
The child employment laws won't prevent children working but would help provide a safer working environment, Mr Smith said. He also stated he doesn't believe - for one moment - that farmers don't care about their kids, but the fact remains that they "do put a lot of kids at risk".
The Age, 15/7/04.
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