Tuesday, 15 August 2023

 Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (19:16): (289) My adjournment is to the Minister for Agriculture in the other place, and the action that I seek is that the minister immediately reinstate proper funding for the control and removal of wild dogs in regional Victoria. For a government that spruiks its environmental credentials and the wellbeing of animals, I cannot believe it is cutting funding to the wild dog management scheme. Wild dogs are a stain on the Victorian landscape. They offer no useful role in the ecology of the environment that we are so proud to protect. Wild dogs hunt and kill sheep and young cattle that are commercially produced to feed our nation, and yet the Victorian government is hell-bent on discontinuing funding that supports the removal and culling of these predators.

My frustration comes to boiling point when I see that this government for Melbourne, who manage the state-controlled land that harbours these wild dogs, are cutting funding that removes these killer dogs. These are not pests, these are not a nuisance; wild dogs are born killers, thrill killers, terrorists of the land. Wild dog trappers should be encouraged, supported and financed, not eradicated. The Minister for Agriculture needs to get out of Collins Street and visit the farming communities that feed this nation, listen to their concerns and then act on those concerns. It is not like it is going to cost a billion dollars. It is small change for the government, who can actually support regional communities and farming families as opposed to turning a blind eye.

When farmers wanted to graze the High Country on state-owned and controlled land, the Victorian government worked with the Greens to close down effective fire management control. But when feral animals seek refuge on government-controlled land and spend their nights hunting and killing on private land, the government and the Greens are nowhere to be seen. Failing to slow this scourge will create a bigger mess to be cleaned up into the future, and I urge the minister to get out of Melbourne and address this problem rather than kicking the can down the road.