NPA: Plain Ignorant or Deliberately Misleading?

On Friday, 30 August 2013, the National Parks Association of NSW's (NPA) Campaign Coordinator, Justin McKee released the latest salvo in his association's unrelenting attack on hunters and our culture: Call for an end to recreational hunting on all public land.

In this release, in what can only be described as a hysterical attempt to underpin a flawed argument, McKee's spurious assertions about feral animal control, hunter behaviour and our effectiveness are simply incorrect.

"Amateurs are ineffective in fighting the feral animal problem on public land in NSW; report after report tells us that" - McKee

Right from the outset McKee oversteps the mark by misleading his readers. In an address to the General Purpose Standing Committee No 5 - Inquiry Into Public Land Management, Mr John Tracey - Manager, Invasive Species, Biosecurity NSW, explicitly  stated that there were no studies in existence that had examined the impact of recreation hunters on feral animal numbers in State Forests.

So one must ask the question of McKee, where are these reports? And further, if none are forthcoming, will he retract that derogatory critique of recreational hunters?

Further to this, since recreational hunting was introduced to State Forests, Forestry Corporation, the state owned corporation charged with overseeing the business activities and management of State Forests has relied on recreational hunters for the vast majority of their vertebrate pest control. In fact, since the introduction of recreational hunting in State Forests, that particular corporation now, or used to, quote the annual Game Council report for pest animals destroyed on land under their tenure. In doing this, recreational hunters not only destroyed many thousands of feral animals, but in doing so delivered a $2.4m benefit to Forestry Corporation and contributed some $34m to regional economies annually. 

 Again the gentlemen of Biosecurity NSW appear to be at odds with another of McKee's flailing, hysterical attempts at grabbing the public's attention.

McKee goes on to say that "The door on recreational hunting in State Forests should be kept shut".

Following a question posed by The Green's MLC Cate Faehrmann, Mr Tracey offered this:

"We advocate, and it is something that we support quite strongly, an integrated approach to pest management. We want to take advantage of as many tools as we can to reduce pest impact."

And further Mr Bruce Christie, Executive Director, Biosecurity NSW had this to say:

"we need to do more wherever we possibly can to try and control feral animals, including shooting."

But the hysterics do not end there.

Further on in his fantastical piece of fiction, McKee cites the recent spate of animals suffering at the hands of criminals as reason enough to prohibit hunting on public land. In these instances it is usually the case that a kangaroo or other common marsupial is found with a target arrow lodged in it somewhere.

The truth of the matter is this: to attempt to draw a link between this sort of behaviour and legitimate, law-abiding hunters is as irresponsible and deceitful as using the behaviour of back-yard drug cooks to justify controls on pharmacists. The persons carrying out these acts are not hunters, in name or spirit and their actions are no more relevant to the debate than said drug cook is to pharmacology.

In throwing their weight into the argument over hunting in State Forests - a state owned corporation and land manager in their own right - one can't help but to question the motives of the NPA. I fear that they are following the well trodden path of many environmental groups, and most famously walked by The Greens, of using the conservation cause to catapult their organisation to prominence, only to abandon sensible discussion on conservation matters in the interest of satisfying some unknown agenda.

On this matter they have shown their hand and the environment is a noticeable absentee.