Wednesday, 25 May 2022

Wild dog control

Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (17:43): (1938) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change. Minister, the action I seek is a clarification from you of a statement you made to me during questioning at the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee budget estimates hearings last week. Unfortunately the time allowed for questioning expired at just the wrong point and has left a very important question unanswered for many regional Victorians, particularly those involved in tourism and farming. Discussing the potential reintroduction of dingoes in Victoria, Minister, you said:

… we are very clear that the plan acknowledges the concerns raised by the community and that there are no plans to reintroduce dingoes.

I asked, ‘In the Grampians?’. You replied, ‘Full stop’. I queried, ‘In Victoria?’, at which point the chair interrupted with, ‘Mrs McArthur, your time has expired’. This seems at odds with your department’s previous stance, so I seek either confirmation or clarification of this response.

This is an important question and one which I believe deserves a definitive position. Farmers across Victoria and members of the tourism sector are vitally concerned and worried about the potential for the reintroduction of what is really a wild dog, and that is not going to be helpful for either the farming industry or the tourism sector. We need to be very clear that this government has no plans to introduce wild dogs anywhere into Victorian public places, especially where there are farming and tourism activities, so we just need clarification from the minister to confirm that across the whole of Victoria this introduction will not occur.