5 July, 2013
Game over for the Game Council, but national park hunting plan lives on
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW has welcomed the state government’s decision to disband the Game Council but has expressed concerns about the Premier’s decision to proceed with amateur hunting in national parks from October.
“The findings of the independent review into the governance of the NSW Game Council are a damning indictment of the influence of the Shooters and Fishers on conservation policy in this state,” NCC Chief Executive Officer Pepe Clarke said.
The Dunn Report found that:
The Game Council has its roots deeply embedded in politics. It was established because of, and has grown with, the influence and power of the Shooters and Fishers Party in the NSW Legislative Council.
“Our members remain strongly opposed to amateur hunting in our national parks, and many will be disappointed to learn that the Premier intends to allow amateur shooters into our parks later this year,” Mr Clarke said.
“We have reviewed the proposed supervision arrangements for shooters participating in hunting programs in national parks and recognise that these controls are a marked improvement on earlier leaked proposals.
“The decision to place shooters under the direct supervision of the National Parks and Wildlife Service is an important step that will reduce risks to public safety and increase the prospects for meaningful reductions in feral animal numbers in our parks.
“These changes are a testament to the powerful community campaign, spearheaded by the National Parks Association of NSW and supported by many of our member groups, opposing recreational hunting in national parks. We welcome the decision to suspend unsupervised recreational hunting in state forests and crown lands, and call on government to permanently end this high-risk practice.”
In a related announcement, the government today announced that responsibility for issuing duck shooting permits would be transferred from the environment portfolio to the Department of Primary Industries.
“We will be monitoring the situation closely, to ensure that water bird populations are not adversely affected by unnecessary and unsustainable shooting,” he said.
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