Tuesday, 18 February 2025

 Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18:17): (1418) My adjournment matter for the Minister for Environment concerns north-west Victoria, where dingoes are now protected on both public and private land. Although outside of my electorate, it is of great concern to farmers in Western Victoria Region as many believe that this government will ultimately extend the ban on dingo control across the whole state. I do not want to rehash the upset caused by the decision in March last year except to restate that it was unexpected by the farmers it affected and was implemented almost immediately. That background is relevant, because those same farmers are now criticised for failing to take all reasonable nonlethal control measures. When the ban came in, ministers assured landowners:

Where livestock are being significantly impacted and there are no other control options available, all farmers … can apply for an Authority to Control Wildlife permit to use lethal control methods.

Yet when these farmers, now facing escalating stock losses, apply for permits, they are denied on the basis that they have not undertaken all reasonable nonlethal control measures. This is unrealistic and unfair and adds insult to injury.

The massive financial and emotional impact of stock losses is felt immediately. Yet measures like introducing a guardian animal and widespread fencing need time to implement. Guardian dogs for stock take two years to fully train and bond, and farmers like Alan Bennett, forced to spend $200,000 on dog-proof fencing with no financial support from government, cannot simply magic up fencing or the money to pay for it. I stress again: these farmers had no time to prepare yet now hear that they should already have implemented time-consuming and expensive control measures. One hundred and twenty of Mr Bennett’s sheep have been killed and countless more attacked. In one paddock 70 per cent of the lambs were killed. In 12 months the losses have been three times those in 2023 – the last year of the wild dog control program. I am similarly told that as many as 500 to 600 sheep have been killed across the district – 10 times the total when the dog control program operated. Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action staff say no permits will be issued until the dingo population has increased but give no detail on what this means.

The action I seek, Minister, is the publication of annual population surveys of dingoes in the Big Desert national park and the announcement of the target population required before farmers can once more protect their stock from indiscriminate slaughter.