Amendments to the Game and Feral Animal Control Act that were tabled in NSW Parliament this week have been described as a failure by the O'Farrell Government to "deliver on its promise to properly protect National Parks from unsupervised amateur hunting".
It was a typical response from NSW Greens anti-gun agitator David Shoebridge MP who said: "The Premier promised that under his new scheme the protections for the public would be the strongest in the country, but this bill fails to deliver that.
"With this bill there is no requirement that amateur hunters on any public land be professionally supervised.
"The newly created advisory board risks repeating the past failures of the Game Council by being dominated by hunters and excluding animal welfare and firearms safety experts.
"The bill continues a legislative scheme that promotes hunting of deer and native water birds, all it has done is put the Department of Primary Industries in charge rather than the Game Council.”
Shooters and Fishers MLC Robert Brown said: "As usual, The Greens are complaining that their anti-hunting agenda will not be fulfilled by the amended Act, but they have consistently failed to do anything more than vilify law-abiding hunters at the expense of their own credibility."
He said the bill signified another step closer for hunters in NSW to being allowed back onto public land, but the O'Farrell Government still cannot say when it'll happen and Mr Brown is calling for immediate action.
"It is incumbent on Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson to ensure there are no further delays that keep hunters from voluntarily culling feral animals from our forests," he said.
"Licensed hunters expect these amendments to pass quickly through Parliament so they can get back to designated State Forests to help control pests and put free-range game meat on their tables.
"They had an excellent record of safety and success during seven years under the former Game Council, and they expect that the regulations will allow exactly the same conditions of access they enjoyed before Premier O'Farrell arbitrarily and unnecessarily halted their activities.
"The Minister must re-establish the operations into a single Game Management Unit, not allow the Department of Primary Industries to disperse the old GC staff into the maw of the massive Department.
"If the licensees can see that the Minister intends to continue the excellent service offered to Game Licence holders, then I'm confident the hunters will get back to doing what they do best – hunting," Mr Brown said.
"Can they trust Mr O'Farrell to ensure this will happen?"
The amendments confirm that a Game and Pest Management Advisory Board will take over many of the former Game Council's roles. The eight-member board will:
* represent the interests of licensed game hunters
* advise the Minister on game and feral animal control, expenditure of funds, and education.
Board members will have expertise, skill or knowledge in the areas of pest management, wildlife, veterinary science, hunting, education and community engagement.
Other Game Council responsibilities will be transferred to the DPI, including licensing, enforcement and regulatory functions.
All hunting licences issued by the Game Council will remain valid under the new system.
A Game and Pest Management Trust Fund will be established that can only be used to cover research, enforcement and the costs of the new Game and Pest Management Advisory Board.
There are no surprises for hunters hidden in these amendments, but the Shooters and Fishers Party will closely scrutinise the future regulations proposed by the DPI.
"There is no indication in the amendments that hunting in National Parks will be anything like it will be in State Forests, and we're very disappointed by Mr O'Farrell's betrayal of hunters in this matter," Mr Brown said.
Meanwhile Mr Shoebridge said: "While the abolition of the failed Game Council is a real positive, it should not just be replaced with a government department that is given the same pro-hunter agenda.
"This legislation retains the concept of 'game animals' and the ongoing promotion of amateur hunting, despite the fact that this unnecessarily diverts attention from professional and effective methods of feral animal control.
"The community in NSW has made it known that it opposes unsupervised amateur hunting in our State Forests and National Parks but it seems the Government has still not gotten the memo.
"The abolition of the Game Council remains a positive step by this government, and an achievement that the community should be proud of. Now is the time to build on that achievement not back away from it."
A little good news I guess, and since it pissed off the greens that's all the better
