Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to highlight an issue of critical concern to farmers in my electorate, that being the horrific social, economic and environmental costs of wild dogs and foxes. I recently attended a Victorian Farmers Federation function in Omeo, where local residents provided first-hand accounts of the damage being caused to stock. Their graphic accounts of dogs emerging from areas of public land to prey on young lambs were disturbing. It was obvious that the stress of encountering the slaughter of stock was playing on the minds of our community.

With lambs fetching in excess of $200 per head, the economic toll is also considerable. A recent report into the cost of wild dog attacks put the economic impact at $18 million per year in Victoria alone, but with the increased lamb prices there is no doubt the true cost will be much higher in subsequent years. It is also virtually impossible to calculate the opportunity cost for landholders who have stopped stocking their properties with sheep and lambs because of the impact of the wild dogs.

The tone of the VFF meeting in Omeo was one of barely concealed anger and frustration. This has been a long-running issue. Consider this report in the Bairnsdale Advertiser under the heading, ‘We’ve had a gutful’. VFF Omeo branch president and local farmer Simon Turner talked about the failure of the previous Labor government in Victoria. He said:

There has been no action on wild dogs for the past 10 years and the dog population is exploding, and when the department does look as though it is taking action it is basically only to settle the media and the political situation.

He goes on to say:

… these dogs are eating people’s livelihoods, and as the farms further out throw in the towel and give up because of dogs, the weeds take over and the dogs follow stock closer in to communities. We have seen packs of 10 at one time.

We need authorities to take a focus, use it all—dog-proof fencing, baiting, trapping, shooting and more than anything else, get into educating new trappers.

My community has had enough of the abject failure by the former state Labor government and wants action to reduce the impact of wild dog and fox predation on their stock.

To its credit, the new coalition government has committed to the reintroduction of a fox and wild dog bounty, to encourage licensed shooters to help control this vermin. There is also a willingness to undertake aerial baiting, but I believe the biggest improvement is going to come through improved practices on the ground involving the Department of Primary Industry wild dog controllers and local residents. It will take a partnership approach and a willingness from the new state government to allow more flexible working arrangements and to allocate more resources to professional trapping and shooting.

I agree with Simon Turner: we need to use all the tools at our disposal. As I have said before in this place, we need to adopt a national approach and get serious about reducing the impact of these feral species across state borders. I know from experience that the member for Eden-Monaro, across the border, well understands the impact of the predation of wild dogs on stock in his electorate. There is no question that the dogs do not respect state borders, and it is important that we have a national approach to controlling the enormous impact that these animals are having on both domestic stock and our native wildlife.

In addition to the economic impact on our farming communities, wild dogs and foxes are feasting on native wildlife. It continues to disappoint me that the city based Greens and the Labor Party talk a lot about the environment but they really have been missing in action when the practical work has to be done to protect our native species. As part of integrated pest animal management, commercial harvesting can be part of the solution—and putting a price on the head of wild dogs and foxes is a form of commercial harvesting. So I congratulate the Victorian state government in that regard.

I would urge the federal government to take a close look at the Victorian experience and make a financial contribution to similar bounty in support of other states that may introduce a scheme as part of a more national approach to controlling these pest species. Farmers and the natural environment would benefit from a national commitment to practical and direct action—not more reports and empty promises. As I have said in this House previously, these economic costs can be measured—$18 million per year to Victoria—but the environmental impacts of wild dogs and foxes feasting on our small native species are very difficult to measure. But there is no question that they are having a dramatic impact on the native fauna.

The big issue for us, I believe, is the cost to the human capital in communities like East Gippsland. The social impacts are the ones that concern me most in terms of East Gippsland the north-east of Victoria. I am concerned about the impact on mental health and the stress that this is placing on our families. Our landholders have to go out to their paddocks in the morning and do not know what is going to confront them. That is a very real issue and one we all need to be concerned about in this place. It is really beyond the capacity of our farmers to deal with this kind of stress on an almost daily basis when wild dogs are about. (Time expired)

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