In a Media Release issued on 13th
June, the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) has accused the Game Council, a
publicly funded NSW statutory authority, of spreading misinformation about hunting
in National Parks.
This Media Release is quoted in
full below.
The North East Forest Alliance has expressed outrage that
the NSW Game Council is undertaking a misinformation campaign targeting local
governments, such as Coffs Harbour and Lismore Councils, that are considering
their positions in relation to amateur hunting in national parks. NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh has accused the
Game Council of acting as if it is a branch of the Shooters Party.
"The Game Council is a publicly funded NSW statutory
authority, subject to the control and direction of the Minister for Primary
Industries. It is outrageous for the Game Council to provide selective
and erroneous information to local government and their Minister, Katrina
Hodgkinson, must pull them into line.
"In 2010 the Game Council was described by its ex-CEO,
David Dixon as 'a deeply flawed, quasi-public gift to the Shooters Party,
compromised by hunting factions, jobs for hunters, dominant personalities and
profound and unsolvable conflicts of interests'." (Sydney Morning
Herald 19.6.10)
"The Game Council is telling local government that hunting
occurs in National Parks in Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. This
is wrong as both Tasmania and South Australia prohibit recreational hunting in
national parks. Some other conservation tenures, such as game reserves,
allow game hunting, though even then feral animal control is undertaken by the
land managers.
"In Victoria, seasonal deer hunting for Sambar deer is
allowed in parts of only four national parks, and game hunting for duck, quail
and deer in a few other types of reserves. Hunting for feral
animals is limited to the small and remote Lake Albacutya Park in the Wimmera,
where it is not considered very successful.
"Other Australian states do not allow feral animal
control by amateur shooters in national parks because it is not an efficient or
effective method of control, and puts other users at risk. Premier O'Farrell
needs to reconsider his rash decision to allow amateur hunting in NSW's
national parks.
"The Game Council also claims hunting safely occurs in
New Zealand parks, though in 2010 a woman brushing her teeth in a popular bush
camping ground was mistaken by a hunter for a deer or possum and shot dead.
There have been 25 hunting related deaths in Australia in the past decade.
"The Game Council has an annual budget of $3.8
million. While a third of this is funded by the licenses, $2.5 million
comes directly from NSW taxpayers.
"The Game Council licenses amateur hunters to use
firearms, dogs, and bows to hunt in 400 State forests and Crown land
areas. In the12 months to 30 April 2012 the Council estimated licensed
hunters took 15,663 animals, mostly rabbits, from public land.
"This represents a public expenditure of $159 per feral
animal killed on public lands.
"Despite the Game Council being established in 2002
there has not been any assessment of the effectiveness of recreational hunting
in controlling feral animals in a single State Forest.
"Taking a few animals out of a population will have no
significant impact, and can even be counterproductive to other control methods
if it disperses pests or makes them more wary. Hunters have also been
implicated in the spread of deer and feral pigs so that they can hunt closer to
home.
"There are already prioritised and systematic feral
animal control programmes in place for our national parks. Diverting the
limited resources available for feral animal control into running safaris for
amateur shooters will make control far less effective and efficient.
"We welcome Lismore Council's decision to oppose
shooting in national parks, despite the efforts of the Game Council"
Mr Pugh said.
