Minns government backs bill promoting hunting in NSW's state forests and crown land

The Guardian

21 hours ago

In a back-to-the-future move, the Minns Labor government has backed a Shooters and Fishers party bill that will promote hunting in state forests and crown lands in NSW and recognise 'conservation hunting' as a legitimate tool to control feral animals.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has thrown his support behind a proposed Conservation Hunting Council, to the horror of environmental groups which warn of a repeat of the now-defunct Game Council.
The Game Council, which served as the licensing agency and regulating agency, resulted in more, not less, feral animals in public lands, particularly feral deer which came to be managed not as a pest but as a hunting species.
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One difference from the previous regulatory regime is that hunting will not be permitted in NSW national parksbut will be in state forests and crown lands with a permit.
The Threatened Species council's chief executive Jack Gough said the bill would divert funding from effective control programs to hunters and would lock in state forests as 'de facto game parks and breeding grounds for pests'.
The authority would effectively become 'a taxpayer-funded propaganda vehicle for the shooting lobby' that could 'undermine the social licence for effective feral animal control nationally – particularly aerial shooting and baiting', he warned.
Environmental groups urged the premier to re-consider and be guided by the science, which they argue clearly demonstrates that recreational shooting is not as effective as evidence-based baiting and aerial shooting programs.
But with the Coalition also likely to support the latest hunting plan, the bill looks likely to be passed when NSW parliament resumes on 24 June.
The latest plan is something the Shooters and Fishers party have long pressed for.
'Recreational and conservation hunters are vital partners in controlling invasive species such as feral pigs, rabbits, foxes and wild deer in New South Wales,' Shooters MLC Robert Borsak said as he introduced the bill last week.
'Unlike sporadic and government-run management programs, which cost New South Wales millions of dollars each year, recreational and conservation hunters contribute over half a billion dollars to the New South Wales economy, mainly in regional and rural areas.' he said.
Minns has also floated introducing a bounty scheme, which is also strongly supported by the Shooters.
The government denies it has done a deal with the Shooters party to support other legislation, but it needs the two Shooter votes and others to pass legislation, when the Greens oppose bills.
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'It is not just coincidence that this radical expansion of recreational shooting rights in NSW is being supported by the government at the same time as the Minns Labor government is trying to cut injured workers off from their compensation payments,' said Greens upper house MP Sue Higginson.
The conservation hunting bill would create a new conservation hunting authority to represent the interests of hunters, make recommendations to the agriculture minister, promote research into 'game, feral and pest animal management issues' and into the benefits of hunting. It would also 'promote, develop and deliver educational courses regarding game animals'.
The authority would have eight members, while seven of those would have voting rights. Four of the voting members would be nominated by hunting organisations.
The bill proposes other changes, including enshrining a 'right to hunt' and recognition of hunting as a conservation management tool.
It would also require managers of some public lands – primarily state forests and travelling stock reserves and excluding national parks – to consider the impact on hunters of any land management activity.
James Trezise, the chief executive of the scientist-led Biodiversity Council, said evidence showed professional programs were most effective for controlling invasive species.
For example, he said feral pigs had been effectively eradicated from Kangaroo Island off South Australia through a multi-year dedicated control program using professional shooters. He also pointed to the NSW government's recent efforts in the Kosciuszko national park to use all tools available, including aerial shooting, to cull thousands of feral horses, deer and pigs.