Supreme Court bid to halt alpine brumby cull fails

Brumby lover Philip Maguire has lost his Supreme Court battle to stop ground culling of feral horses in the alpine region.

Some of the more than 15,000 feral horses estimated to be roaming within the Northern Kosciuszko survey block. Picture: Ricky French

Brumby lover Philip Maguire has lost his Supreme Court battle to stop ground culling of the feral horses in the alpine region but intends to appeal against the ­decision.

Parks Victoria’s 2018 action plan expressly stated that ground and aerial shooting would not be used to control the horses, but an update in March 2020 allowed for the ground shooting of brumbies at high conservation priority alpine ­locations.

The Supreme Court heard the decision was made without public consultation and Mr ­Maguire did not learn of the decision until May 20.

Mr Maguire argued Parks Victoria was required by law to consult with the community over the decision to cull feral horses in the Alpine National Park and it failed to do so.

Mr Maguire owns Mount Bundarra Station which backs on to the Alpine National Park and brumbies frequently come on to his property.

Parks Victoria challenged Mr Maguire’s standing to bring this legal case and also said it had no obligation to consult with the community over the decision.

Parks Victoria told the court it did not engage in a public consultation process because of what it considered to be the urgent need to implement the decision and a public consultation could have taken at least four months in the face of urgent conservation ­issues and upcoming limited winter access.

Parks Victoria also submitted that it was aware of community views about the shooting of feral horses from its original ­engagement process for the ­action plan.

The 2018 action plan focused on capture and control principally using passive trapping, rehoming where possible, and monitoring and research.

The plan had an initial target of capturing up to 1200 horses over three years.

The plan said if culling was to be carried out Parks Victoria would deploy small team operations where ground-based professional shooters would use thermal imaging and noise suppressors to cull the horses.

It said the plan would be evaluated in its third year and if ­additional methods were ­needed there would be further public consultation.

Legal proceedings by the Australian Brumby Alliance ­delayed the start of the plan for two years and only 153 horses have been removed.

Parks Victoria submitted conditions had changed since the Action Plan was devised, ­including the recent bushfires threatening native alpine species that were already under threat.

It submitted there has been a dramatic increase in feral horse numbers in the region with an estimated 5000 feral horses in the Victorian alps compared to the estimate of about 2450 feral horses in the action plan.

Thirdly, Parks Victoria claimed the trapping programs had been limited in their effectiveness and there had been little interest in rehoming the trapped horses.

Judge Steven Moore dismissed the case and found Mr Maguire did not have standing.

He also said it was up to Parks Victoria to determine the form of engagement and it was not obliged to consult with the community.

Mr Maguire has until Thursday to lodge an appeal, with Parks Victoria undertaking not to start shooting until June 9.