Beverley McArthur MP, Member for Western Victoria Region, Media Release, 27 May 2022
The Victorian Government has confirmed it intends to slaughter hundreds of wild brumbies in the Alpine National Park and Barmah Forest, and has issued a tender document specifying the carcases will be hacked up and left to rot. Parks Victoria and Victorian Environment Minister, Lily D’Ambrosio have been forced to outline their plan, under questioning by Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) member, Bev McArthur MP.
(Full tender specifications here – Proof Hansard PAEC transcript here)
The Member for Western Victoria and PAEC member said the plan includes sawing through horse carcasses with chainsaws and then camouflaging them so that they are ‘removed from view’.
“I think most people will be shocked to hear that not only will the horses be shot, but hundreds of carcases will be hacked up and left to rot,” Mrs McArthur said.
“This isn’t scaremongering – it’s there in black and white in the tender document.”
Parks Victoria’s “Control of feral animals in National Parks and surrounding areas” tender specifications, also includes confirmation that both detection dogs and drones will be used to locate horses prior to destruction.
Under questioning from Mrs McArthur at PAEC last Thursday, Parks Victoria CEO Matthew Jackson confirmed that around 400 of the 500 horses currently in the Barmah Forest will be shot initially, with the rest removed in subsequent years.
He told the Committee the immediate aim is to reduce the number to “… 100, with a view to eradication over four years.”
They are descendants of horses linked to Australia’s wartime past, made famous in the legendary Banjo Patterson poem “The Man from Snowy River” and the film of the same name.
Thousands of brumbies look set to be killed in the Alpine National Forest.
There is widespread dispute over actual numbers as reported to PAEC by the Parks CEO, and under questioning he confirmed they use an aerial method of population modelling which has attracted substantial criticism from locals, brumby advocates and other experts.
Parks Victoria contracts outline how the shooting should happen.
The Parks Victoria contract says: “Every effort must be made to avoid shooting feral animals in waterways, close to roads, vehicle and walking tracks and camping areas where carcasses may be visible to the public. Carcasses in waterways, carcasses visible form a road, vehicle track or camping area must be moved and/or broken down and removed from view if safe and feasible to do so.”
Mrs McArthur said it’s awful.
“The Government contract is quite explicit in its content. It says that ‘the contractor will need to supply a chainsaw, and all operators will have relevant experience and hold the appropriate certification’.
“It’s brutal,” Mrs McArthur said. “It means 400 broken up carcasses in the Barmah, alone.
“Worse still, little real effort seems to have gone into the alternative – rehoming the animals – as promised by Parks Victoria. Mr Jackson conceded only ten of these majestic horses had been matched with new homes, despite a significant number of willing volunteers. So for the rest, it seems their days are numbered.”
“If only the Victorian Government took this approach to those feral animals that are destroying our national parks and their native wildlife.
“Wild pigs, deer, foxes, rabbits, cats and wild dogs do so much more damage, as well as out of control noxious vegetation – and yet it is the horses that are targeted; animals that actually reduce grass; the fuel loads exacerbating bushfires throughout the forest.
“This issue has much more to do with woke politics and killing off colonial traditions than it has to do with protecting native areas and wildlife.
“Parks Victoria like to talk about wild horse ‘management’. This tender document, and my questioning at PAEC reveal what that ‘management’ really means. Hundreds if not thousands of brumbies will be hunted down with dogs and drones, shot, hacked up and left to rot.
“This is politics at its most morbid and disgusting.”
