The Hon. Nathan Rees
Premier of NSW
email:  ThePremier@www.nsw.gov.au                                            

The Hon. Carmel Tebbutt, MP
Minister for Climate Change & the Environment
email: dp.office@tebbutt.minister.nsw.gov.au

The Hon. Ian Macdonald, MLC
Minister for Primary Industries
email: macdonald.office@macdonald.minister.nsw.gov.au

Dear Premier and Ministers

Game and Feral Animal Control Amendment Bill 2009

Our Association was very heartened to hear that the government will not support the Game and Feral Animal Control Amendment Bill 2009 in its current form.  We urge you not to support it in any form.

Shooters have already been given much too much, both in funding and in access to public land.  Our members are very worried by the presence of recreational shooters in state forests and on crown land.  The shire’s main industry is tourism and some or our main tourism assets are the forests.  These are used by families for walking, trail bike riding, and touring in four-wheel drives and other vehicles.  The great majority of users and people who live near the bush are not shooters and do not feel safe with recreational shooters at large in the forests.

Allowing recreational hunting in National Parks will alienate the great majority of the state’s population.
 
If feral animals need to be controlled this should be done with properly planned and executed programs by operators who are accountable for the methods they use.  Culling must be done with the least cruelty and needs to target key animals in the groups to be effective.

The Bill is more likely to encourage the introduction of feral bird species and the spread of existing feral animals.   It would be in the interests of shooters to introduce feral animals to areas to improve hunters' chances of a kill.  Some land managers claim this is already happening.

We are very much opposed to the proposal to allow recreational hunting of native animals on private and public land.  As with feral animals, if culling is necessary it should be done humanely as part of a properly monitored program.
 
The proposal to allow the release of exotic birds into private game reserves is ludicrous.  With all the feral animal and bird populations already impacting on Australian biodiversity the last thing we need is more exotic species.  Game reserves elsewhere have increased the number of feral animals on nearby land because escape is common.  This will be even more so with bird species.

We are very pleased that the Bill has so far not been passed and urge you to completely reject it should it come to parliament again.

Yours sincerely

Jenny Edwards
for the secretary.