Legislation to Improve Game and Feral Animal Control Passed in NSW

Friday 25 October 2013 @ 10.40 a.m. | Legal Research

The News South Wales (NSW) Parliament has passed the Game and Feral Animal Control Amendment Act 2013 (Act No. 75 of 2013) (the amending Act). The Act received royal assent on 23 October 2013 and is (as at 25 October 2013) to be commenced. The laws which are said by the government to be hunting laws directed at "better eradicating and managing introduced pest animals" have been controversial with respect to what is called "recreational hunting".

What the Amending Act does

The amending Act amends the Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002 (the Principal Act) and other Acts and instruments to:

  • abolish the Game Council of NSW,
  • transfer to the head of the Department responsible to the Minister the licensing, enforcement and other regulatory functions of the Game Council under the Principal Act,
  • establish a Game and Pest Management Advisory Board to represent the interests of licensed game hunters in matters arising under the Principal Act and to provide advice to the Minister and the Regulatory Authority in relation to game and feral animal control and other matters,
  • make other miscellaneous and consequential amendments.

In broad terms the amending Act is said by the government to be "aimed at restoring confidence in hunting as a recreational activity" and will replace the "Game Council" with a "Game and Pest Management Advisory Board".

Reaction to the changes

The NSW Primary Industries Minister, is quoted as saying:

"the legislation follows through on the Government’s commitment to implement key recommendations of the review into the governance arrangements of the Game Council, conducted by Steve Dunn (Independent Consulting)".

The Governance Review of the Game Council of NSW submitted to the government 14 June 2012, found the Game Council to be poorly governed and that it had "inherent conflict[s] of interest". The structural reforms to management in the amending Act followed from the review into the Game Council and the findings and recommendations it made with respect to governance failure and inherent conflicts of interest associated with the Game Council’s function to represent the interests of hunters and its role as a hunting regulator. The amendments in the amending Act are intended to restore public confidence in the regulation of hunting and allow for more effective use of hunting as pest management strategy for game and feral pests. 

The Minister is reported as being of the view that disbanding the council will . . . "restore confidence in hunting as a recreational activity" . . . and lead to . . . “the reduction of game and feral animals [which] is important to our agricultural sector and to the State’s economy,” supporting the claim by saying the game and feral animals causes as much as $70 million in primary industry productivity loss each year in NSW. The amending Act also restates the government's support for what are termed "volunteers hunters" and the contribution they can make to management of game and feral species.

The Greens through MP David Shoebridge are reported as saying the amending Act is an important step in stopping the developing gun and hunting culture in the state and has claimed that . . . "the Government was pushed by the community of NSW into abolishing the pro-gun Game Council".

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