Hansard debates

Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (12:12): My question is for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change. Since submissions into the draft management plan for the Grampians—or Gariwerd—National Park closed in January, farmers, tourism operators, locals and others have been increasingly anxious about the proposal to reintroduce dingoes to the national park. Their concern is not only about the increased potential for livestock deaths by dingo attacks but also about the impact it will have on the tourism industry given the most recent dingo attack in Australia was less than three weeks ago on Fraser Island. The dingo plan will undermine the region’s two most important industries: farming and tourism. One problem is that no-one will define the difference between a wild dog and a dingo. The Animal Justice Party appears to identify wild dogs as dingoes. My question to the minister is: what definition will you use, Minister, and how can farmers be expected to distinguish between the varying definitions of wild dogs and dingoes?