Fox and wild dog bounty
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:14): (187) My question is for the Minister for Agriculture. New research has revealed that most dingoes in Victoria are actually purebred. Comprehensive DNA testing has disproved a longstanding and deadly myth that has allowed a cruel bounty program to continue since 2011 in Victoria. This research confirms what ecologists, First Peoples and animal advocates have been demonstrating for years – that there is no such thing as a wild dog. It also means that not only does this government sanction the slaughter of endangered native dingoes, but it will literally pay landholders over $100 for each one that they kill. A 2021 inquiry into ecosystem decline in Victoria recommended greater protection for dingoes, including reviewing the fox and wild dog bounty program, but a response from the government is long overdue. In light of the recent findings, will the minister step in and end the outdated and unscientific fox and wild dog bounty program in Victoria?
Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education, Minister for Agriculture) (12:15): I thank Ms Purcell for her question. Predator pest management does cut across agriculture and environment, and I am sure Ms Purcell is absolutely aware of that. Effective control of larger predator pests is complex, and there are lots of policy implications in relation to it. I understand and I am advised that Victoria has probably one of the most nuanced positions in respect to our current position, and it will always be a challenge to strike that balance of conservation, agriculture production and of course animal welfare in an area like this, and of course community and stakeholder engagement is incredibly important and is key to this whole area.
We are aware of the new research that is coming forward at the moment, and the department is looking at all of that. Essentially it is about the genetic status of free-ranging dogs. We have got teams within the department that are considering the policy implications, but currently the policy is that lethal and non-lethal control methods form part of the current integrated approach to predator pest management. Lethal control measures are targeted to agricultural areas considered to be of highest risk of livestock predation, and the department works with landowners to support the uptake of non-lethal control techniques, such as fencing and the use of guardian animals to protect livestock production. That is the current policy, and as I have said, the department has active policy teams looking at the most recent research that has become public.
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:17): I thank the minister for her response. Dingoes are exempted from protection where they are deemed to pose a risk to livestock. However, the sheep industry’s own research states that more than 80 per cent of lamb deaths are due to farm management practices, including breeding for multiple births and repeat exposure to the cold. In the last year as little as 0.0056 per cent of Victoria’s sheep population was reportedly attacked. In the same period over 1000 dingoes were killed through cruel trapping and bounty programs. On top of that, it is unknown how many are killed by 1080 poison baiting. Can the minister advise the total number of reported livestock attacks compared to sanctioned dingo deaths in Victoria?
Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education, Minister for Agriculture) (12:18): This is a fairly detailed question, but I have sought advice on this on a previous occasion. What I can let Ms Purcell know is that, in terms of the number of attacks, it is around 3500. In terms of the total livestock that have been reported killed or maimed, there have been something like just under 15,500 of those, and that is between the years of 2011 and 2022. Over the same period – and I do not actually like describing it as such, but to give you an accurate sort of visual on how this is worked – body parts for 4629 wild dogs were collected through the bounty program. These figures illustrate, I think, the complexity of the policy that is being considered.