Background
In
May 2012 the NSW Government of Premier Barry O'Farrell announced it would be
allowing recreational hunting in 34 of the state's National Parks, 31 Nature
Reserves and 14 State Conservation Reserves. (The CVCC's initial comments on the proposal in an earlier post.)
The
Premier's backflip from his pre-election promise that his government would not
allow recreational hunting in the state's national parks system was part of a
deal to get the minority Shooters and Fishers Party members (Robert Brown and Robert
Borsak) in the Legislative Council to support further electricity privatisation. The Government's spin machine claimed this
would be a win for the national parks system because it would make much more
effective the eradication of pest species such as foxes and pigs in the parks.
Implementation Difficulties
Those
who value the state's reserve system were outraged by the sleazy deal and have
since campaigned vigorously to have it overturned. In addition to this opposition the government
has been beset by a number of problems in trying to implement their deal. There have been studies clearly expressing
concerns about public safety and the safety of park workers and the NSW Game
Council came under investigation for governance issues.
Dunn Report on NSW Game Council
The
report on the review of the Game Council ( Dunn Review Report ) was so damning that the NSW Government
has declared it will implement the report's key recommendations. These are:
Transfer the regulatory, enforcement, education, policy and licensing functions to the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI); and
Establish an advisory Game Board that will undertake stakeholder engagement and advocacy.
Furthermore, it has suspended
hunting in all 400 State Forests and on Crown Lands pending the transfer of
functions to the DPI and the outcome of a risk assessment.
Just how effective the DPI will be in ensuring that hunting on community land is conducted according to the rules remains to be seen.
The New Hunting Plan
In addition to the changes
outlined above the Government has recently announced a revised plan for allowing
recreational hunters in national parks.
There's a new name for the hunting deal – Supplementary Pest Control. In a letter sent out to those who have
written to or emailed the Government about their concerns, Environment Minister Robyn Parker and Primary
Minister Katrina Hodgkinson have outlined the scheme to have
"volunteer" hunters assisting National Parks staff in pest
eradication activities in a trial in 12 parks and reserves beginning in
October. According to these ministers the new program follows "a rigorous
risk assessment process and expert advice" and will give the National
Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) "additional volunteer resources to
ensure pest animals are removed from the landscape".
Details of the plan as
described in the Ministers' letter are below.
The program will operate under the strictest controls
in Australia:
·
The
program will be regulated and managed by NPWS.
·
To
participate, volunteers will need to have the equivalent skill, experience and
accreditation of our professional NPWS staff and contractors.
·
All
pest control activities will be scheduled and carefully managed by NPWS.
·
All
pest control activities will be announced in advance. NPWS will provide
notification four weeks in advance and final confirmation to park neighbours
and the public a minimum of 48 hours ahead of any activities.
·
Areas
will be closed to visitors on the days of these pest control activities, with
appropriate signage and road closures in place.
·
No
person under 18 will be allowed to participate.
·
Bows
and black powder muskets will be banned.
·
The
program will not occur during school holidays.
·
The
program will not occur in metropolitan parks and wilderness or World Heritage
areas.
Eventually the program may be made available in up to
75 parks and reserves – less than 10 per cent of the total number within NSW.
The majority of these parks will be in the State’s west where ground shooting
is routinely undertaken for pest control on both public and private property.
(Extract from form letter from Robyn Parker, MP,
Minister for the Environment and Katrina Hodgkinson MP, Minister for Primary
Industries, dated 12 July 2013.)
A Few Comments
While this is certainly an
improvement on the Government's initial "open slather" approach to
giving the Shooters and Fishers everything they wanted, there are still serious
concerns.
Will the NPWS be adequately funded to operate the program without its management impacting on other NPWS activities and responsibilities?
Which parks/reserves will be involved in the trial?
How long will the trial run?
How transparent will the review of the trial be? It is significant that there is no reference to the program being abandoned and recreational hunters being denied access to the National Parks Estate if the review indicates there are serious problems with the program.
