The Liberal/Nationals Coalition on the weekend announced new measures, including cutting bureaucratic restrictions, to help control the number of wild dogs, said State Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull.   “Saturday’s announcement at the Mountain Cattlemen’s Get Together by Nationals Leader and Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Peter Walsh, was well received by farmers suffering from wild dog attacks, costing them thousands of dollars each year,” Mr Bull said.

Mr Walsh said the commitment included removing the 3km buffer zone for doggers and allowing farmers to undertake dog controls outside their boundary fences.

The Coalition has committed to:

• Appointing an independent chair to the Wild Dog Advisory Committee, with relevant wild dog control experience;

• Restoring majority landowner representation to the committee;

• Cutting red tape that hampers wild dog controllers and affected landowners from control efforts; and

• A competitive tender process for spring and autumn aerial baiting to ensure maximum value and effectiveness for investment.

“Labor wasted almost two years trying to work out what the best method of controlling wild dog numbers, and simply reinstated what the Coalition already had in place when it announced it would reintroduce the bounty and wild dog advisory committee in October last year,” Mr Bull said.

“And when it did announce its wild dog management committee, it had slashed farmer representation and local knowledge.

“The Government never gave a reason for why it axed the successful wild dog bounty program in early 2015 and then it was forced into an embarrassing backflip in October after pressure from landholders and the Coalition.

“Without the bounty, wild dog numbers increased and in 2016, for the first time in five years, wild dog controllers caught more dogs than the previous year,” Mr Bull said.

Monday, January 16, 2016