SSAA NSW

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. 19 Pest management seems to be a widely discussed topic of late with recreational hunting being a focus of attention throughout a number of different forums. Recently, the Game and Pest Animal Management Advisory Board held a forum at Penrith Panthers in greater western Sydney which saw over 100 participants representing NSW Game Hunting Licence holders, Approved Hunting Organisations including SSAA NSW, Rural landholders, Offi ce of Environment and Heritage, Local Land Services, Department of Primary Industries Biosecurity and Food Safety, and of course the Department of Primary Industries Game Licensing Unit. This forum allowed all those present to explore the use of recreational hunters as a pest management tool whilst identifying the barriers to implementing effective management strategies. Guest speakers delivered presentations on a range of related topics; SSAA NSW along with NPWS gave a joint presentation on the successful SPC program. After lunch participants split into groups to workshop these ideas before presenting their fi ndings to the Board who will subsequently prepare recommendations that will be passed onto the Minister for Primary Industries. In February 2016 the Minister for Justice and Police announced a review into rural crime. The scope of the review revolved around stock theft, rural trespass and illegal hunting. As a result of the review a number of key recommendations have been made, one in particular that could affect all hunters. The executive summary of the report and primarily recommendation 19 have been the basis for conjecture among the hunting community of late. 'Hunting on private land using knives, dogs or bows continues to grow in popularity across NSW, perhaps fuelled in part by the lack of regulation of such activities, compared with the regulatory scheme in place for hunting with fi rearms. Often this hunting involves rural trespass. This lack of regulation does nothing to assist Police or the Department of Primary Industries to manage or control such behaviour'. '19. All hunting on private property to require both a licence and a letter of permission from the landowner. Police to be empowered to require production of both documents from hunters either whilst hunting or in circumstances where police have reason to believe individuals are travelling for the purpose of hunting.' Social media such as Facebook became a hive of activity with rumour and innuendo that the Department of Primary Industries Game Licensing Unit and the Game Board had already had discussions and were considering introducing this all-encompassing licence. This sparked the Department of Primary Industries to release the below statement. Hunting Matters Pest Management Hunting Licences for Everyone We would hope that as one of the biggest stakeholders representing recreational hunting in NSW that we will have a seat at the table to provide feedback on any future changes to hunting licences in NSW. RECREATIONAL HUNTING VS. PEST HUNTING Some suggest that there are vast differences between the two. Do you believe there is a difference between recreational hunting and pest hunting? We'd love to hear from you. Please send your thoughts to handc@nsw.ssaa.org.au.

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