Tuesday, 2 December 2025

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (02:05): (2175) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment. Earlier this month the lifeless bodies of two adult female kangaroos, one adult male kangaroo and a joey were dumped outside Entrecôte restaurant in the inner-city suburb of Prahran. My office was sent the disturbing CCTV footage, which showed the moment a man drove his car behind the restaurant, opened his boot and discarded these animals like they were pieces of trash. The incident took place just metres away from people’s homes, public transport and members of the public who were walking nearby with their children and their family pets. We do not know how these kangaroos died. Did they fall victim to the state’s road toll crisis, or were they victims of this government’s brutal kangaroo harvest management plan?

In Victoria kangaroos can be legally shot under authority-to-control-wildlife permits or under the government-sanctioned kangaroo harvest management plan. Under these systems kangaroos are shot and killed simply for being perceived as an inconvenience. The shooting takes place at night, where missed shots are commonplace and compliance is virtually non-existent. Under the national code of practice for shooting kangaroos, the rule is that if a female is shot and has a dependent joey, the joey must also be killed. The prescribed so-called humane methods to kill joeys include decapitation or a forceful blow to the head, often done on a car’s tow bar.

What is so disturbing about this incident in Prahran is that the perpetrator felt emboldened enough to commit such a horrific offence in broad daylight with no care or concern for who might see and then drive off as if it was business as usual. I ask myself constantly how we as a nation have become so complicit in this disrespect to one of our country’s most iconic and much-loved animals, and now it is playing out on inner-city streets. My office lodged a formal report to authorities about this incident, and last week I wrote to the conservation regulator again requesting an update on the matter. However, the response I received was not satisfactory. I am still left with more questions than answers, and the public has a right to know too. These kangaroos deserve justice. The action that I seek is for the minister to provide a more fulsome update on the status of this investigation so we can know what really happened and if the perpetrators will be held accountable.