Congratulations Laurie Levy for receiving the 2023 Animal Justice Foundation Peter Singer Lifetime Achievement Award.
– Laurie worked with Project Jonah in the 1970s, to protect whales and whaling subsequently stopped in Australian waters in 1980.
– He helped stop the harassment of possums by gangs beside the Yarra River.
– He rescued beached whales, with colleague Neal Bethune and the help of hundreds of volunteers. They worked with the Federal, Tasmanian and Victorian governments to set in place whale rescue plans and procedures.
– He had two farmers prosecuted for cruelty to kangaroos – they both spent time in jail after the RSPCA prosecuted
– and he worked with Greenpeace to stop Taiwanese 25-kilometre long, high-seas drift-nets in Australia’s northern waters in order to protect dolphins, whales and turtles (which Prime Minister Bob Hawke banned).
– In 1986 the campaign to end duck shooting commenced when Laurie challenged more than 100,000 Victorian duck shooters by taking 15 rescuers to the duck shooting opening at Lake Connewarre near Geelong. Today, 37 years later, his media based campaign has led to WA, NSW and Qld all banning recreational duck shooting and due to a change in public opinion, there are only around 8,000 active duck shooters in Victoria today (less than 0.02 per cent).