Animal Justice Party’s Sandra Kyle enters race for Whanganui seat

Sandra Kyle says she will advocate for animals for as long as she is able. Photo / Mike Tweed

Sandra Kyle is putting her name in the hat for the Whanganui seat at this year’s election, despite saying she knows she doesn’t have a “snowball’s chance in hell” of winning.

Kyle, a long-time animal activist known for her vigils outside meat plants in Gonville and Castlecliff, is representing the newly formed Animal Justice Party Aotearoa NZ.

She said the idea for the party came about around a year ago - “a bunch of vegans flying the plane as we built it”.

“Lo and behold, we got our 500 members and we were able to be registered just a few weeks ago.”

The party believed in promoting a kind and more compassionate society, Kyle said.

“Our belief in animal rights stems from the understanding that animals are sentient beings with their own unique capacities for feeling pain, fear and joy.

“We’re founded in non-violence, and this is grounded in our principles of compassion, empathy and respect for all life.”

Kyle said lasting change could only be achieved through means such as education, advocacy and dialogue.

While it would be lovely to get votes, the party wasn’t being unrealistic.

“This is a way of getting the issues out and allowing people to think about them.

“We have close to 20 candidates across the country. We are going to be seen.”

She is on the party’s policy committee, with 25-30 policies completed so far.

They range from reviewing animal welfare codes and banning factory farming to protecting wildlife and allowing people in rental accommodation to have companion animals.

“Although our policies are on animals, they obviously take in wider society as well. Everything we do is interconnected with the climate and the economy, all of those things,” Kyle said.

“I suppose our flagship policy is to begin to transition New Zealand to a plant-based economy.

“With Government taxes on farmers, there must be some out there who are willing to look at turning to horticulture.”

She said the party’s ideas were “sound and based on research”.

Responsible debates could be had and the party could put forward its views.

“The activist in me wants to go and say, ‘This is what I believe, this is what we believe’,” Kyle said.

“What we are doing to animals is not right. There are better ways and we would like to propose them, even if they’re radical.”

Climate change is also high on the party’s list of priorities.

“We have quite a lot in common with the Greens because we are concerned about a sustainable economy and about our polluted waterways.

“We are concerned about global warming going unchecked and people being complacent about it. It’s the defining issue of our time, in fact.”

There was no more efficient way to lower emissions than by ending animal agriculture, she said.

“I sometimes think, ‘For heaven’s sake, just stay home and do your gardening like any other self-respecting 74-year-old’, but as long as I’ve got breath and as long as I’m able, I’ll be advocating for animals.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.