Parliament takes a shot in the park
Hawkesbury Gazette, Page: 3. Wednesday, 24 June 2009
The New South Wales Shooters Party wants to be able to have game hunting allowed in national parks.
A bill introduced to Parliament also paves the way for hunting native animals, including the black swan, galah, red kangaroo and euro.
The bill would not allow threatened species to be hunted and in the case of native waterfowl, licensed game hunters would need to pass an official identification test of the ducks, the Shooters Party said.
The Game and Feral Animal Control Amendment Bill, was introduced into the NSW Upper House by Shooters Party MP Robert Brown, who said since the start of licensed hunting on declared public land in March 2006, more than 20,000 feral animals had been removed from state forests.
“The amendments proposed in the bill will...provide genuine, measurable benefits to the people of NSW, to the NSW economy and to the environment, and at minimal cost to taxpayers,” he said.
But Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon called on Environment Minister Carmel Tebbutt to reject the bill.
“Opening up state forests to shooters was bad enough, but this is a step too far,” Ms Rhiannon said. “Allowing hunters in national parks would create a real threat to public safety and native wildlife, and destroy the qualities of our parks. The Shooters Party try to paint this legislation as environmentally responsible but it is an act of vandalism, risking the spread of feral animals into new areas.” A spokeswoman for Ms Tebbutt said the government would consider the bill on its merits.
“The government does not however support the hunting of native animals or hunting in national parks,” she said.
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