Tuesday, 10 May 2022

Kangaroo control

The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council that kangaroos culled through the Kangaroo Harvest Program (KHP) and the Authority to Control Wildlife (ATCW) is a contentious issue within Victoria. The Victorian Government seem to be over-inflating kangaroo numbers as their count excludes large parts of the state’s landscapes, meaning that kangaroo numbers and alleged damage caused by kangaroos could be grossly overestimated

During the black summer bushfires of 2020, approximately three billion wildlife were killed, injured or displaced. The Government estimated that in 2020, the kangaroo population increased by 40 per cent, which macropod experts claim is not scientifically possible. Kangaroo numbers based on ATCW permits highlight that the counting of kangaroos for the KHP is not based on science.

Further, the approved harvest of kangaroos in accordance with Victorian Kangaroo Harvest Management Plan 2021–2023 provides for commercial harvest arrangements which is in direct conflict with the intent and objects of the Wildlife Act 1975 and the Environment Protection Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999 (Cth).

The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to suspend the 2021 commercial Kangaroo Harvest Program, apply accurate methods for counting kangaroos, undertake and publish research into kangaroo populations and allegations of damage and abandon plans for all future commercial harvesting of macropods.

By Dr RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (820 signatures).

Laid on table.