Stop the aerial culling of deer

The petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council that aerial culling of deer in areas that can be hunted by recreational hunters needs to end. Aerial culling is extremely expensive, imprecise and animal welfare standards are not kept as animals are shot to stop, not shot to kill.

Aerial culling of deer in western Victoria and other parts of the State is being conducted in areas where recreational hunters have paid license fees to hunt deer. With fees set to increase, this is even more insulting as hunters are expected to pay more for less opportunities. These license fees could be used to fix rural roads and infrastructure rather than wasted on expensive helicopter culling with mixed results.

Many hunters use venison to supplement their groceries and given the cost-of-living crisis the culling of these animals is leading to the waste of perfectly good venison that could be used or donated to charities with government assistance. We call on the Government to confine aerial culling to locations where recreational hunters are not allowed and encourage more recreational hunters to get out to help with deer control.

The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to stop the aerial culling of deer in areas that can be hunted by recreational hunters.