2026-10-22
There's nothing refreshing about animal cruelty
By Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens Spokesperson for Animal Welfare
Every November, we're told the Melbourne Cup is the race that stops the nation. But behind the fancy hats, champagne and corporate
hospitality is a brutal industry built on animal cruelty and gambling, and some of Australia's most familiar brands are helping keep it alive.
One of those brands is Schweppes Australia, which has sponsored the Victoria Racing Club and Melbourne Cup Carnival for decades, lending its name and reputation to an industry responsible for the suffering and deaths of thousands of horses.
Every two days, a horse is killed on an Australian racetrack from racing-related injuries, while thousands more disappear from industry records or are killed away from the track.
This past weekend, Ohope Wins was euthanased after a fall during the Caulfield Cup.
These aren't isolated tragedies. They're the inevitable consequence of an industry that treats sentient animals as disposable commodities, forcing them to race for gambling profits and so-called entertainment.
Schweppes isn't just supplying drinks to the Melbourne Cup. It has its very own race, the 'Schweppervescence Plate', in which three-year-old horses will compete despite their bodies not yet being fully skeletally mature.
On Melbourne Cup Day last year, four-year-old Rothfury suffered a catastrophic injury and was killed in front of racegoers. On two other days over the past year when Schweppes sponsored races, horses collapsed and died on Australian racetracks.
You shouldn't have to support animal cruelty every time you drink a lemonade.
What's particularly frustrating is that Schweppes has already shown they know better. In 2015, when horrific cruelty in the greyhound racing industry was exposed, the company cut its sponsorship ties, saying it was 'shocked and appalled' by what it had seen.
That was absolutely the right decision, and Schweppes has no reason not to show the same courage and compassion when it comes to horses.
Of course, the cruelty of the Melbourne Cup Carnival extends well beyond the racetrack. It's also a celebration of the gambling industry that causes devastating harm to families and communities, all wrapped up in the language of national tradition. But tradition is no excuse for cruelty, and companies like Schweppes have a choice about whether they continue to bankroll it.
That's why I've written to Schweppes Australia and its parent company, Asahi Beverages, calling on them to end their sponsorship of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Together with the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, we're building public pressure on Schweppes to make the same compassionate decision it made a decade ago.
You can join me in writing to Schweppes Australia and tell them it's time to end their sponsorship of the Melbourne Cup.
We've seen Schweppes change its position before, and with enough public pressure, we can make it happen again.