Having called for the reinstatement of the wild dog bounty no less than seven times in State Parliament since it was cut by the State Labor Government, Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, said today’s backflip by Labor would be welcomed by local farmers.

“It is incredible to think that on scrapping the bounty, the Minister last year said ‘there was debate about its effectiveness’, but this has now changed to it being a good thing,” Mr Bull said.

“As recently as the last two sitting weeks I have been calling for its reinstatement as there was no need to get rid of it in the first place, it was a big mistake.

“The other element of the Minister’s statement that does not make a lot of sense is that the Government is setting up a Wild Dog Management Advisory Committee to consult with the community, but less than a year ago it sacked the Wild Dog Advisory Group that included Gippsland farmers.

“As I have pointed out time and time again in the Parliament chamber, the figures show that about 500 dogs were being removed per year through the bounty, which means by the time it is reintroduced next year, there will be about 1000 more dogs in our landscape than there should be, because this government let it lapse for two years.

“The wild dog bounty is something I, along with my Upper House colleague Melina Bath, have raised in Parliament continually since it was scrapped in mid-2015, and we’ve also sent questions and correspondence to the Minister formally.

“The Minister has said her government was reviewing the best methods of controlling wild dogs, but has in fact just wasted that whole time by reintroducing something the Coalition had right in the first place,” Mr Bull said.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016