AN upper house committee released its final report on Wednesday into aerial shooting of brumbies in Kosciuszko National Park, but the report has been rejected by the chair of the committee.
The inquiry was launched after an announcement was made by the NSW Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe that aerial shooting was going to be allowed in an effort to cull brumbies.
The inquiry examined several aspects of the aerial shooting program, including the justification for it, animal welfare and human safety concerns, the adequacy of current policies, and the availability of alternatives to aerial shooting. The committee held five public hearings at Parliament House and conducted a site visit to Kosciuszko National Park.
Chair of the committee, the Hon Emma Hurst MLC, said: “From the outset of this inquiry, it was clear that aerial shooting of brumbies in Kosciuszko National Park is a highly controversial topic. It was always going to be an extremely difficult inquiry.”
Ms Hurst continued: “Unfortunately as the Chair for this inquiry, I cannot support the final report as published. Unanimous agreement on the findings and recommendations could not be met and the final report is far removed from the original recommendations and findings I had proposed. While many in the community may be distressed by the final report, I thank everyone who gave their time and expertise in this inquiry.’
She explained her objections further: “The report that I had proposed as chair was gutted by the Shooters Fishers and Farmer’s Party and Labor, leaving an entirely unbalanced report that did not give consideration to the very compelling evidence we heard from vets, statisticians, the local community, and other animal welfare experts,” she said.
“Hearing all the evidence it was clear to me that the aerial shooting of brumbies is not justified and can never be justified.
“We heard about the inaccuracies and flaws with the government’s count methodology and animal welfare risks with the Standard Operating Procedure. We cannot simply ignore this evidence or pretend it wasn’t presented. I will continue to advocate against this cruel program and the recommendations that I put forward as chair to immediately end aerial shooting of brumbies.”
