Draft “Brumby Bill” hoped to save Victoria’s brumbies from firing squad
More than 11,000 people have pledge their support to a petition calling for legislation based on NSW’s “Brumby Bill” to save Victoria's population of wild horses from an imminent ground cull.
AN animal rights solicitor is drafting legislation based on NSW’s contentious “Brumbies Bill” to protect Victoria’s wild horses from a Parks Victoria plan to have them shot by snipers.
Castlemaine solicitor Marilyn Nuske is behind a Victorian Legislative Council e-petition calling for the State Government to abandon its plans to eradicate brumbies in the Victorian Alps.
The petition, which has received more than 11,000 signatures, also calls for legislation protecting brumby bloodlines and the formation of advisory groups to be part of any population control measures.
“The draft Bill is calling for the recognition of the heritage value of the brumbies … we want to see brumby group representatives appointed to advisory panels to be involved in the management of brumbies within national parks. And we certainly wouldn’t want to see brumbies shot,” Ms Nuske said.
Brumbies, Australia’s wild horses, are under fire over their impact on the alpine environment, where they roam freely, and their eligibility as heritage icons due to their role in Australia’s early settler and wartime history.
The latter argument underpins NSW’s legislation, introduced last year, which recognises the heritage value of sustainable wild horse populations.
Earlier this month a protracted legal battle between Parks Victoria and the Australian Brumby Alliance was brought to an end, with the Federal Court ruling in favour of Parks Victoria’s wild horse control program.
During the 18-month legal stoush, the program of eradicating between 140 to 200 horses a year was halted.
A last-minute filing in the Victorian Supreme Court, however, has delayed deployment of the shooters.
Omeo farmer and former mountain cattleman Phil Maguire applied for an interlocutory injunction on Monday preventing Parks Victoria from carrying out the shooting on the basis it was a breach of the Parks Victoria Act 2018.
At the Supreme Court hearing Parks Victoria gave an indication it would not begin any shooting of horses in the Eastern Alps until June 1, and a date was set to decide whether a final injunction should be granted for May 26.
MORE
STAY OF EXECUTION FOR VICTORIAN BRUMBIES
‘No one knew it was coming’: Tongala cow abattoir shuts
The livestock industry and local community have reacted to Greenham’s closure of its Tongala cow processing plant.
Victorians want to feel guilt-free about eating meat
Research – to guide a Victorian Government-funded pro-agriculture campaign – has revealed how consumers feel about the state’s farmers and what issues need to be addressed.