Cattleman loses court bid to stop brumbies cull
A massive cull of wild brumbies in the Victorian High Country has been put on hold pending lodgment of an appeal after a local cattleman vowed not to back down from his fight to save the feral horses.
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A massive cull of wild brumbies in the Victorian High Country has been put on hold until at least June 12 after being given the green light when a local cattleman lost his Supreme Court bid to stop it.
Omeo resident Phillip Maguire is not backing down from his fight to save the feral horses and now the cull has been put on hold on the condition Mr Maguire lodges his planned appeal by 4pm on June 2.
If he fails to do so, snipers could take to the ground from June 9.
Justice Steven Moore did not have to order an injunction on Parks Victoria, after the parties agreed to these terms.
He thanked the parties for their “pragmatic compromise” to allow an “appropriate and just holding position” if Mr Maguire proceeds to the Court of Appeal.
Mr Maguire had earlier this week challenged Parks Victoria’s controversial decision to cull the brumbies in the Alpine National Park with ground-based professional shooters without any community consultation.
He claimed only horses that couldn’t be rehomed should be culled.
Justice Moore on Friday ruled that Parks Victoria had no legal obligation to consult with the community about its decision to cull feral horses.
He said Mr Maguire had misinterpreted the government’s management plan when it referred to “subject to community consultation” when discussing horse management approaches.
“This is language consistent with the character of the management plan as a strategic policy document, rather than one which imposes rules and obligations,” he said.
Mr Maguire, who owns Mt Bundarrah horse adventures business where guests film and photograph wild horses, sought an urgent application in the Supreme Court after learning snipers were about to take their positions in the bush on May 17.
Parks Victoria claims the culling program is needed to protect native wildlife, plants and habitat in the Alps that were being destroyed by pests, including the horses.
In an affidavit tendered to the Supreme Court, Mr Maguire said Parks Victoria produced a document called ‘The Protection of the Alpine National Park: Feral Horse Strategic Action Plan 2018–2021’ that set out their plan for the treatment of brumby horses in the Alpine
National Park.
“In the creation of the plan, the agency consulted with the public, including me. In addition, the agency, in adopting the plan undertook or promised that “key stakeholders will be informed of outcomes from annual program reviews. Management approaches will
be adapted according to results of the reviews and feedback from community, researchers
and technical experts...And that “Community and stakeholders are informed of
actions and progress,” the affidavit stated.
But he claimed the agency then produced an amended plan on May 8 that contained significant differences.
“In it the agency determined on an “additional technique to control horses” to shoot dead
free ranging horses. Shooting free ranging horses was expressly not part of the initial Land
Management Plan (the only shooting of horses contemplated is where
trapped horses could not be rehomed). Indeed, shooting (and fertility control) were specifically “not proposed” in the Plan.”
Mr Maguire owns Mt Bundarrah horse adventures business where guests film and photograph wild horses.
“The brumbies are a material contributing factor to my income from that business,” he said.
Parks Victoria said in the second plan: “Given the current circumstances, Parks Victoria will be commencing an additional technique to control horses. Small-team operations will be deployed into high- conservation priority locations where ground-based professional shooters will use thermal imagining and noise suppressors to cull free-ranging feral horses, under
strict animal welfare protocols with expert equine veterinary oversight.”
The “current circumstances” is believed to refer to an explosion in feral horse numbers in the Australian Alps, spanning Victoria, ACT and NSW, from 9000 to 24,000 horses.
Parks Victoria has said the culling program is needed to protect native wildlife, plants and habitat in the Alps that were being destroyed by pests, including the horses.
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