Tuesday, 2 June 2026

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (22:26): (2533) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment, and the action I seek is for confirmation that dingoes in north-west Victoria will remain protected and be excluded from any future dingo unprotection order. Last week my office was sent a photo of a deceased dingo that had been struck by a car and discarded on the side of the road like rubbish. A dedicated wildlife rescuer attended the scene, covering the dingo with flowers and foliage as a mark of respect. She described the devastation and overwhelming grief she felt in that moment when she placed her hand on his still-warm body as ‘brutal’. She said:

The fact that we even have dingoes roaming within our community is something truly special. To have witnessed the beauty of this magnificent, healthy animal, only to then find him dead on the roadside, feels like a profound loss to our community.

I could not agree more. That same day I came across commentary attempting to reduce the profound significance of dingoes to one of so-called genetic purity. There is a growing narrative that focuses narrowly on the idea that dingoes must be ‘pure’ to be ecologically valuable. This misunderstands both conservation science and how ecosystems actually function. The author is very passionate about dingoes, but modern genetic research increasingly shows that while some hybridisation with domestic dogs has occurred, much of it is historical. There is little evidence of widespread ongoing hybridisation and first-generation dingo-dog hybrids make up less than 0.5 per cent of the wild canine population. Importantly these animals are still functioning as dingoes in the landscape. They play the same ecological role, helping regulate prey populations and maintain ecosystem balance. Conservation that is framed solely around genetic purity risks ignoring the ecological function entirely. Indigenous knowledge systems have long recognised dingoes as part of a living, interconnected landscape, not as a problem to be purified out of existence. Reducing them to a genetic debate alone risks repeating a very colonial pattern of oversimplifying complex ecological relationships. As the National First Nations’ Dingo Declaration states:

If it looks and behaves like a Dingo, it is Australia’s Dingo.

In north-west Victoria this debate is particularly concerning given the current minister has not yet confirmed the security of future protections. Communities deserve clarity that dingoes will continue to be recognised for their ecological and cultural value, and I call on the minister to ensure that existing protections will not be quietly wound back.