The federal Greens will push for a national standard for free-range eggs that would slash the number of farm hens per hectare by 85 per cent.
Should the party gain the balance of power, Queensland Senate candidate Andrew Bartlett said it would push to crack down on what constituted a free-range egg.
It came just over two months since state ministers signed off on a controversial "free-range" definition in March, which stated eggs must come from hens with meaningful and regular access to an outdoor range and a stocking density of up to 10,000 birds per hectare.
But Mr Bartlett, the former national Democrats leader, said that needed to be reduced to 1500 hens per hectare.
"More and more Australians want eggs that are cruelty-free," he said.
"But according to Choice, only 10 out 46 products labelled free-range at Coles or Woolworths meet the RSPCA code.
"I call on the Australian Labor Party and Liberal National Party to commit to honest labelling so people can trust that they aren't supporting cruel factory farming and the de-beaking of chickens."
Mr Bartlett had a long history of campaigning against battery farms.
As a Democrats senator in 2000, he infamously posed, in gothic make-up, with a chicken to draw attention to the plight of battery hens.
"Chickens have had much better lives in the ACT and Tasmania where the Greens have used their influence in Parliament to reduce the amount of chickens that can be crammed together," Mr Bartlett said.
"Nationally we will use our power in the Senate to develop and regulate better national standards for animal welfare and labelling."
Mr Bartlett said the Greens would push for a "completely independent body" to protect animals and liaise with states to introduce consistent egg start.
"An independent body can give frank and fearless advice based on the latest science and international standards," he said.
Choice policy and campaigns adviser Katinka Day blasted the decision at the decision to redefine "free-range" in March, saying the nation's ministers had "put the interests of large-scale egg producers ahead of the needs of consumers".
"The decision means that big producers can still flog dodgy 'free-range' eggs at high prices in supermarkets, and consumers are still going to have to fight to figure out if they're buying the real deal or an expensive imitation," she said at the time.
"We believe that eggs which come from hens that don't go outside and have high stocking densities don't meet consumer expectations, and don't deserve a 'free-range' label."
But Egg Farmers Australia spokesman John Coward called it a "commonsense resolution" to what he said had been an "unnecessarily complicated issue".
"Consumers too have secured a win," he said in March.
"With the new requirement for stocking density to be mandated on pack, shoppers will be empowered through choice.
"Most importantly for industry this provides certainty."
Mr Bartlett was second on the Greens' Senate ticket in Queensland, behind incumbent Senator Larissa Waters, for July 2's double dissolution election.
The Australian Electoral Commission drew the Greens in the second-last grouped column at the Senate ballot paper draw in Brisbane on Friday.
