Latest news with #ShootersFishersFarmers
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Animal activists slam NSW plan to pay bounty hunters for feral animal kills
A controversial plan to introduce bounty killings for feral animals and expand hunting rights would 'turn NSW into a South African game park', opponents have claimed. The NSW government came under fire this week after Premier Chris Minns floated the idea of paying shooters for bounties for feral animals, including cats and pigs. The proposal forms part of sweeping reforms proposed by the NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party to hunting rights, including a new minister for hunting. NSW Animal Justice Party MLC Emma Hurst said the Bill would 'take us backward' and bounty killings as a means of population control did not work. 'We know even just from research that these bounty programs don't work, but of course it also allows for extreme animal cruelty,' Ms Hurst said. 'There's no proper sort of oversight or accountability into these programs. It's encouraging a bloodbath for animals. 'The argument that's put forward by the Shooters (party) is that these animals are introduced. 'Therefore, we can do whatever we sort of want to them and we should ignore what animal cruelty is happening to them. 'They have the ability to feel pain and fear and we shouldn't be encouraging some kind of extreme Rambo-style killing spree on these animals within the communities.' Ms Hurst said the Bill, which seeks to open up Crown land to hunting, would 'essentially turn NSW into a South African game park' and waste taxpayer money. She urged for more species-specific control measure for feral animals in NSW, including the use of immunocontraceptive darting that is used overseas. Several feral and invasive species are active in the state, including feral pigs, deer, and camels as well as wild dogs and feral cats. Shooters MLC Rod Borsak said the Bill was about incorporating NSW's about 200,000 licensed hunters into 'the conservation hunting paradigm'. 'The whole idea is to try and develop a system of co-operation … something that brings the recreational hunting side of things into the conservation paradigm,' he said. He went on to add that bounties would 'increase the incentive to farmers and to conservation hunters to go out there and target the animals that we think are important'. Mr Borsak stressed the possibility of bounties to target feral cats that attack native fauna and are 'impossible' to control under the government's current 'instruments'. The long-term Legislative Council representative dismissed the notion that the bounty plan would result in a 'free for all', citing longstanding regulation and safety measures. 'There's a whole lot of rules around all this stuff that has been tried and true for the last 20 years,' Mr Borsak said, referencing concerns about firearms safety. 'Anyone trying to run a scare campaign is moaning in the face of the evidence of what's actually occurred in two or three million hectares of public land in the last 20 years.' Under the plan, a $1m 'pot' would be available for feral pig snouts, which Mr Borsak said could sell for $15-30, with another $1m pool for wild dogs, foxes, and cats. Mr Borsak described hunting as a 'mainstream' activity that 'really benefits rural and regional NSW primarily, and we really should be recognising that'. Under the Bill, spotlighting and the proposed use of thermal scopes would not be allowed on Crown land, including state forests. Nor would the hunting bounty scheme – or any hunting at all – be allowed within national parks in NSW. The proposal was panned by the Invasive Species Council, whose chief executive Jack Gough wrote to Environment Minister Penny Sharpe and Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty. 'I am writing to urge you to reject the latest attempt by the NSW Shooters Party to undermine effective feral animal control in NSW,' Mr Gough said. 'This time through an attempt to secure government funding for bounties. 'Australia's long history of failed bounties has demonstrated they are expensive, ineffective and undermine genuine feral animal control programs.' The council raised concerns that the scheme could be abused by way of fraud, and feral animal control was 'very different from ad hoc killing'. While dismissing the plan, the council has lauded the successes of aerial culling into reducing the population of feral horses in the Snowy Mountains. While significantly different in purpose, planning, and practice, the shooting of brumbies in the Kosciuszko National Park has been equally divisive. A recent state government report found the population of brumbies in the park could be as low as 1500, down from 13,000 to 22,000 last year. Mr Gough welcomed the report as a 'turning point', with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service releasing images of ecological recovery in the park. Ms Hurst questioned the government's earlier numbers and suggested alternatives, like darting, were also available. 'The problem that we have is that there's always this messaging pushed out there that it has to be done urgently and it has to be done as quickly as possible,' she said. 'Of course what happens is when you kill a whole lot of animals in any one system they breed back up pretty quickly, so it's always going to be a Band-Aid solution. 'It is not going to work in the long term.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Why Aussie state wants bounty hunters
A controversial plan to introduce bounty killings for feral animals and expand hunting rights would 'turn NSW into a South African game park', opponents have claimed. The NSW government came under fire this week after Premier Chris Minns floated the idea of paying shooters for bounties for feral animals, including cats and pigs. The proposal forms part of sweeping reforms proposed by the NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party to hunting rights, including a new minister for hunting. NSW Animal Justice Party MLC Emma Hurst said the Bill would 'take us backward' and bounty killings as a means of population control did not work. 'We know even just from research that these bounty programs don't work, but of course it also allows for extreme animal cruelty,' Ms Hurst said. 'There's no proper sort of oversight or accountability into these programs. It's encouraging a bloodbath for animals. 'The argument that's put forward by the Shooters (party) is that these animals are introduced. 'Therefore, we can do whatever we sort of want to them and we should ignore what animal cruelty is happening to them. 'They have the ability to feel pain and fear and we shouldn't be encouraging some kind of extreme Rambo-style killing spree on these animals within the communities.' Ms Hurst said the Bill, which seeks to open up Crown land to hunting, would 'essentially turn NSW into a South African game park' and waste taxpayer money. She urged for more species-specific control measure for feral animals in NSW, including the use of immunocontraceptive darting that is used overseas. Several feral and invasive species are active in the state, including feral pigs, deer, and camels as well as wild dogs and feral cats. Shooters MLC Rod Borsak said the Bill was about incorporating NSW's about 200,000 licensed hunters into 'the conservation hunting paradigm'. 'The whole idea is to try and develop a system of co-operation … something that brings the recreational hunting side of things into the conservation paradigm,' he said. He went on to add that bounties would 'increase the incentive to farmers and to conservation hunters to go out there and target the animals that we think are important'. Mr Borsak stressed the possibility of bounties to target feral cats that attack native fauna and are 'impossible' to control under the government's current 'instruments'. The long-term Legislative Council representative dismissed the notion that the bounty plan would result in a 'free for all', citing longstanding regulation and safety measures. 'There's a whole lot of rules around all this stuff that has been tried and true for the last 20 years,' Mr Borsak said, referencing concerns about firearms safety. 'Anyone trying to run a scare campaign is moaning in the face of the evidence of what's actually occurred in two or three million hectares of public land in the last 20 years.' Under the plan, a $1m 'pot' would be available for feral pig snouts, which Mr Borsak said could sell for $15-30, with another $1m pool for wild dogs, foxes, and cats. Mr Borsak described hunting as a 'mainstream' activity that 'really benefits rural and regional NSW primarily, and we really should be recognising that'. Under the Bill, spotlighting and the proposed use of thermal scopes would not be allowed on Crown land, including state forests. Nor would the hunting bounty scheme – or any hunting at all – be allowed within national parks in NSW. The proposal was panned by the Invasive Species Council, whose chief executive Jack Gough wrote to Environment Minister Penny Sharpe and Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty. 'I am writing to urge you to reject the latest attempt by the NSW Shooters Party to undermine effective feral animal control in NSW,' Mr Gough said. 'This time through an attempt to secure government funding for bounties. 'Australia's long history of failed bounties has demonstrated they are expensive, ineffective and undermine genuine feral animal control programs.' The council raised concerns that the scheme could be abused by way of fraud, and feral animal control was 'very different from ad hoc killing'. While dismissing the plan, the council has lauded the successes of aerial culling into reducing the population of feral horses in the Snowy Mountains. While significantly different in purpose, planning, and practice, the shooting of brumbies in the Kosciuszko National Park has been equally divisive. A recent state government report found the population of brumbies in the park could be as low as 1500, down from 13,000 to 22,000 last year. Mr Gough welcomed the report as a 'turning point', with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service releasing images of ecological recovery in the park. Ms Hurst questioned the government's earlier numbers and suggested alternatives, like darting, were also available. 'The problem that we have is that there's always this messaging pushed out there that it has to be done urgently and it has to be done as quickly as possible,' she said. 'Of course what happens is when you kill a whole lot of animals in any one system they breed back up pretty quickly, so it's always going to be a Band-Aid solution. 'It is not going to work in the long term.'
News.com.au
19-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
NSW Jewish group ‘overwhelmed' by anti-Semitic incidents as landmark inquiry gets under way
A leading Jewish organisation has described being 'overwhelmed' by the 'sheer volume' of anti-Semitic incidents in NSW as a landmark state government inquiry gets under way. Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers MP Robert Borsak is chairing the first hearing in state parliament on Monday of the NSW Legislative Council's inquiry into anti-Semitism in NSW, alongside Greens MLC Amanda Cohn and MLCs from Labor and the Liberals. The inquiry seeks to examine the underlying causes behind the 'increasing prevalence and severity' of anti-Semitism in NSW, as well as the 'threat to social cohesion' it presents and how the safety of the state's Jewish community 'might be enhanced'. NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip told the inquiry that 'the past 20 months had seen an unprecedented and shocking rise in anti-Semitism' following the October 7 attack in Israel and the subsequent protests over the invasion of Gaza. 'For the first time, the Jewish community of Australia and NSW has felt unsafe and at risk, not because of anything it has done, but because of who we are,' he said. 'There have been moments where we have been completely overwhelmed as an organisation by the sheer volume and seriousness of anti-Semitic incidents which have been reported to us … No sphere of life has been immune to the virus of anti-Semitism.' The inquiry was told of incidents reported to the organisation in which students were targeted because of their Jewish identity, including one in which a student was asked 'Are you Jewish? F**king Jews. You should kill yourself'. 'This all previously would have been unthinkable,' Mr Ossip told the inquiry. In its submission, the board said there was a 339 per cent increase in incidents. It comes after a spate of high-profile anti-Semitic incidents across Greater Sydney this past summer that led to the passing of controversial new anti-hate laws that outlawed protests outside places of worship among other strict measures. NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Michele Goldman told the inquiry that the board welcomed the new anti-hate speech laws, and it was 'something we've been advocating for some time' and a 'first step' but called for more action to be taken. 'What we really need to see now is consistent application of the law to ensure that those people who are guilty of vilification, of harassment, of intimidation face the law and that there is effective deterrence to others,' Ms Goldman told the inquiry. 'A clear message is that this is not OK in our society. This is not for Australia.' Opponents of the laws, including civil society groups and Jewish groups and individuals who made submissions to the inquiry, claim the laws limit free speech and were a 'kneejerk' reaction and warned about conflations between criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism. Asked about those concerns, Mr Ossip said 'getting into this discussion is a bit of a red herring' and the overwhelming majority of incidents reported to the organisation were 'textbook anti-Semitism … (which) have nothing to do with Israel or Zionism'. 'I think where the line is crossed is where hatred of Israel spills over into suspicion of Jews more broadly or a view that Jews are pernicious, dangerous, or particularly egregious in their actions,' Mr Ossip told the inquiry. 'I think it's when protesters will deny the rights of Jews for self-determination and saying that Israel's very existence is illegitimate or inherently racist.' Mr Ossip told the inquiry that Holocaust education 'isn't sufficient to combat anti-Semitism'. He singled out 'tropes' that were often 'subtle and pernicious'. On far-right extremism, Mr Ossip went on to add that 'they're obviously an immense concern to us, but we've been making mistakes just to describe it as anti-Semitism'.
