Greens push for duck hunting ban
Border Watch, Page: 4. Friday, 5 June, 2009
This year’s duck season will be the last in South Australia if Greens MLC Mark Parnell’s private members bill is passed through State Parliament.
He introduced the bill on Wednesday in response to statements made by the Department of Environment and Heritage that there had been little shooting activity due to low numbers of ducks as a result of falling water levels in the region’s wetlands.
Department spokesperson Steve Bourne, who made the comments on ABC News, declined to be interviewed by The Border Watch yesterday.
However, Gambier Shooting Supplies’ Ian Lambert said South East shooters had been “pretty happy” with the recent season, which closed on Sunday.
“They are not happy they can only shoot teal and wood duck and not the black or mountain ducks, which they reckon were out there in big numbers, but were otherwise happy with the season,” he said.
“We’ve been surprisingly busy.” He said shooters had frequented Lake George, Lake Bonney and other water bodies, along with centre pivots, in the hunt for ducks.
But Mr Parnell said the decision to open the duck hunting season after a two-year break was a farce that “never should have happened”.
“The environment department went against the express advice of its own advisory council and rejected concerns raised by environmental experts that duck numbers were dangerously low in SA,” he said.
“Now DEH appears to be expressing surprise that bird numbers were so low - there is simply no reason for our native birds, which are already struggling to find refuge in stressed wetlands in our state’s South East, to be shot out of the sky for sport.” Mr Parnell urged all parties to support his bill to permanently stop the annual duck hunt.
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