Tuesday, 27 May 2025

Northern Victoria Region

Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (13:02): (1586) My question is for the Minister for Environment. Just after dark on 16 May, my constituents who operate the Wildlings in Woodend, a Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action registered wildlife shelter, heard the sounds of ongoing gunfire. That same night they responded to rescue calls nearby and found kangaroo body parts strewn across the road, including the severed tail of an adult kangaroo. My constituents are concerned that this may be the activity of a commercial kangaroo harvester operating in the area. This is the devastating reality of the kangaroo harvesting plan, where communities are witnessing local mobs massacred near their homes and the sounds of shooting in the dead of the night. At last year’s wildlife welfare roundtables, with the minister himself present, we discussed the potential for mandatory exclusion zones around registered wildlife shelters to protect both animals and the wider community. Will the minister introduce these exclusion zones around registered wildlife shelters in Northern Victoria?