Hansard debates

Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (20:19): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change and concerns the shooting of brumbies in Victorian national parks. I am deeply concerned that the same instinct which has caused Parks Victoria to undertake previous cynical and predetermined consultation processes on this topic is now persisting in the secrecy surrounding its implementation. Last month the Parks Victoria Alpine National Park website stated, I quote, ‘Aerial shooting operation underway’ and that ‘Parts of this park will be closed from Monday 24 to Friday 28 May 2021’. The link loaded a page entitled ‘Deer and feral animal control in response to bushfire’.

Not once was there any reference to reducing or eradicating the brumby population. It is unsurprising, given the approach taken by Parks Victoria to date, but members of the public who oppose the program to shoot brumbies are concerned about such opaque wording. I am told that a contract has been let to collect the carcasses of those animals shot dead by Parks Victoria in the national parks.

The Australian Brumby Alliance (ABA) wrote to Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning ministers and department secretary John Bradley in April to raise this question. The response received is categorical in its denial but only of one specific question. The rest of the letter uses the same linguistic contrivances to hide the reality of the policy, which is to shoot horses and in some areas to eradicate the brumby population entirely. Mr Bradley’s reply states:

As outlined in the current Feral Horse Strategic Action Plan … and the revised … Feral Horse Action Plan 2021, Parks Victoria proposes to

• continue to trap feral horses for rehoming to the extent that suitable rehoming applicants can be found;

• implement the most humane, safe and effective horse control techniques; and

• conduct all horse management operations according to strict standards for animal welfare and public safety.

Without prior knowledge no reader would understand what that actually means—that ‘humane horse control’ and ‘horse management operations’ simply means shooting them. Yet despite denying the specific allegation from the ABA, he wrote:

Planning and implementation of the feral horse management program is underway.

What does this mean? The action I seek from the minister is confirmation that no carcass removal contract has been awarded and that there is no ongoing operation to control the population of wild horses in Victorian national parks. It would be further helpful to avoid speculation and to promote trust through transparency for the minister to provide the latest timetable for any measures related specifically to horses planned in the future.