Almost 200 protestors in Armidale have rallied against recreational hunting in the state’s national parks, which will start next month.
They warn the move will create a new gun culture in New South Wales, but hunters say their concerns are unfounded.
Pure scaremongering.
Even if t were not, shooting already occurs in National Parks beacuse it is the most humane, efficient and effective control mechanism. If the claims are true, why has this not been protested before?
National Parks exist to protect bio diversity. If the actions of the volunteer shooters contribute to that aim, then the wants of the protestors should take second place.
How can anyone who claims to care for our natural environment possibly object to the removal of ferals from the ecosystem?
The fact that there are volunteers offering to do this for free is a win for native animals everywhere.
Well someobody seems to know whats going on. Hunting in NP in Victoria for decades but somehow NSW is different, come on now. Nothing but scare mongering.
The speakers managed to contradict themselves on several occasions & used irrelevant statistics from overseas to bolster their emotive drivel. It should also be noted that no hunters were invited to speak – we couldn’t let the truth get in the way of a good protest, could we.
I attended the rally today to try and get some facts on hunting in N.P. Others I chatted to were there for the same reason, not just to supprt the rally and were a bit bewildered with the speakers often contradicting each other. It appeared to be just a scare mongering session. The small number of people who attended to support hunting in N.P. were well behaved and after the rally some discussion with them was more informative than the confusing and sometimes misleading information spoken by the invited speakers. I came away thinking that hunting in N.P should work well, after all the parks are for everyone.
If there is one topic that drags out the opinionated, uninformed rabble and gets them all excited it’s firearms and hunting.
Looking at most of them they would never venture any further than 5ks from the Armidale PO in any case.
But then again, it’s more about the politics than the environment with the NPA isn’t it?
Hot happy? WHO CARES !
Hunters have just taken a leaf out of the greenies book and used political representation and lobbying to further the interests of their supporters.
Whats’ good for the goose is good for the gander !
I’m not happy either.
I’m not happy that this rent a crown allow their philosophical bias and their personal preferences to take priority over the needs of the Aussie bush, which is crying out for practical intervention such as this.
If you don’t like the noise, then allow us to use suppressors. If you don’t like the thought of being around firearms, then stay in the cafe sipping lattes while we do what is necessary. If you dont like sharing your favourite bush walking track with other users, then be honest enough admit that you are selfish freeloaders.
Ah! diversity is a wonderful thing (unless someone else disagrees with you).
Since when does 40 fruit loops and a whole bunch of passers by equal 200 protestors?
one obvious conclusion one draws from the previous comments is that most of the viewers on NBN in the Armidale district are a bunch of right-wing, gun-toting, redneck loonies
Wrong Neil Denison: Most of the Armidale population are simply in-touch with rural activities. They don’t like being lied to by a bunch of ageing hippies either.
I am a volunteer for National Parks on the north coast and before that an avid bushwalker and camper who loves seeing naive animals in their natural environment and getting away to enjoy the peace and beauty of the bush.. One of the general public users of national Parks they were set up and managed for. National Park rangers do a fantastic job of removing feral pests by luring them into areas to be trapped and removed, while not scaring native animals out of their homes by gun and hunting noise and the sounds and smells of of death and terror induced by hunting nor jeopardising other park users lives and destroying the ‘au natural’ beauty of the park which is their main attraction for the majority of people.. I do not expect someone who happily shoots animals to understand or appreciate quiet enjoyment of nature. This is born out by the earlier thuggish comments on this page. But if you want to go hunting why not go up to a mates place and go for your lives. You really are by far the minority so why should the majority have to suffer your sickening bloodlust. Never mind, Barry O’Farrell’s got it sorted. He’s bringing CSG mining that will gas you all out in the bush anyway. Won’t be any more farming or huntin’ an’a fishin’ by the time he’s done with the bush.
Some facts Rosie.
1) National Parks were initiated by hunters to protect game herds from commercial harvesters. Look it up.
2) NPA can only claim 5000 members and 800 active volunteers… There are over 18,000 NSW Game Council volunteer hunters, all active and all volunteering time and money for direct conservation outcomes. A minority? No.
3 If national Park Rangers were doing such a good job they wouldn’t need our help. And if there are no ferals to be found then hunters wont go there will they?
Gee Rosie, it’s all about you isn’t it?
I always thought the parks were about protectng the environment, not so you can watch some cute animals before they all disappear.
The fox I shot today meant there will be 12 more native birds alive tomorrow than would have been had I been a self serving bush walker.
Rosie if you want to go bush walking why not go up to a mates place and go for your lives. You really are by far the minority so why should the majority have to suffer your sickening selfishness.
The shooters were by fat the minority at the rally in Armidale, about 8 shooters and 200 people who supported ‘No Hunting in National Parks’, many not members of National Parks Association. I am a bushwalker and conservationist I do not agree with amateur shooters with guns in place where I walk. As a bushwalker, I back pack. I walk many kilometers from the picnic areas, and camp in the bush. I would like to continue to feel safe in National Parks. The sound of gun fire would scare me.
Pat,
6 I’s and a me, and not one consideration of the environment.
That says something. As others have said, selfish.
I am against allowing amateur shooters shoot in National Parks. As far as I can read the above comments, the pro-shooters are only attacking those against by branding their voices ‘scaremongering’, ‘selfish’ or ‘inconsistent’ and deliberately equating them to ‘opposition against feral animal culling’. None tried to assure that amateur hunters can do the culling as well and as safely as the Park Rangers or professionals assigned to the task would do. That is disappointing.
There is a significant difference between an integrated pest species control program which currently occur in National Parks and amateur shooters removing individual animals. With the NSW taxpayers providing over $2.5 million pa to the Game Council the cost for amateur hunters to remove pest species from State Forests, is approximately $180 per animal removed. Given that over half of the pest species removed are rabbits and hares public funding of the Game Council to coordinate amateur hunting does not represent value for money for the NSW tax payer (refer Game Councils Annual Report for detailed figures). Integrated control programs can control rabbits for less than $10 per individual and only the most expensive integrated control programs for perhaps pigs or goats in remote difficult to access areas would cost anywhere near $180 per individual. What the NSW taxpayer is really funding is recreational hunting to buy political support.
Thank you, Kersten, for your informed opinion.
Pat,
Govenrment rangers and contractors already shoot in NP’s, often from helicopters as per the Brumby debarcle at Guy Fawkes NP some years back.
In all your bush walking adventures, can you honestly say you have heard gunfire or been buzzed by a low flying helicopter? If not, then the chances are you are not walking in the same areas as the hunting will occur.
Shooting is not new, just think of it as staff augentation using volunteers of equal or greater competency as those doing it now for money.
On the plus side, the animal welfare and safety benefits of using ground based hunters who can better identify their targets and follow up on any wounded animals (compared to fast moving helicopters) should be obvious for all to see.
Pat Schultz states the blindingly obvious when claiming the majority at the rally were protesters, I mean, that’s who the event was staged for right? (aside from the media that is).
That’s like me claiming there were no protesters present at the rifle range that day.
Seems like a handfull of hunters just happened to be passing by and chose to stop and listen in, and attemp to correct the more outragous claims being made.
Just wondering . . . regarding the $40 per hectare cost of NP vs $25 per hectare cost of SP as shown in the video, and the comments that followed that in 7 years of recreational hunting in State Parks there has been ‘no casualties’, what is the number of visitors in National Parks vs State Parks ? ? ? Are there significantly fewer visitors in SP’s = less/no casualties? Just a question . . .
Angela I have been involed in hunting in State Forests from the very beginning, and the only other users I have only ever encountered whilst hunting are 4wd clubs and trail bike riders.
National Park visitation numbers are heavily biased by high intensity areas such as the ski fields. Real life visitors in the more remote areas would tend to be about equal I would suggest, if not heavier in state forests due to vehicles being allowed.
Think about it; ferals love their peae and quiet more than bush walkers and so tend to avoid areas frequented by walkers and campers.
Also, the best hunting times are dawn and dusk when walkers do not tend to be moving about much.
Hope this helps.
Good question Angela – Yes indeed the National Parks general visitation would be greater than State Forests, although that is unquantified. The sign about the casualties referred to all firearm casualties, not just those involving general forest visitors. Since we have not had widespread NP hunting in NSW we can only look to other local jurisdictions, like Vic and New Zealand – where the casualty rates involving permitted hunters on public land are so infinitely small as to be statistically insignificant. In Victoria there was something like 6 major incidents over 30 years – all involving hunters only!! Of course there is always the chance of accidents happening but it does not warrant the senseless scaremongering. NPA is against anything in NP’s that doesn’t conform to their standard – bushwalking and nothing more.
Hate guns.
Hate hunters.
Don’t give a toss whether hunters shoot themselves or each other.
Why do arrogant human beings think land has to be ‘managed’?
Leave the National Parks alone! Leave the native fauna & flora alone! Leave the introduced species (‘feral’) alone.
Create other nature spaces for bush walkers.
Ageing Hippie – Hunters don’t HATE people like you, they just have no respect for small-minded, intolerant, ideological bigots like yourself. Nature-loving hunters feel sorry for you.
Hunting in National Park is an uncivilised act and we are a civilised society
Gee Dr gerda that was deep. Is that the best you can come up with after thinking about it for 3 days?
Does ‘dhv’ stand for Drunken Hunting Violence? http://theconversation.edu.au/shooters-and-fishers-gaining-influence-over-environmental-policy-in-nsw-7425
Hunting by non-professional hunters already occur in SA and Victoria National Parks and have been for a number of decades. The State representatives from both those state seem to be very happy with the results.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/hunting-in-sa-and-victorian-national-parks/4500984
Does Pamela stand for Pass Another Melon, Eat Less Animals?
Simple solution here.
Hold a referendum, offer unbiased information, let the public vote.
How can we know for sure that they are only shooting ferals? What do they do with the dead bodies, just leave them there to rot? Our parks will be stinking in no time. While it appears to be noble to remove feral animals, remember, going by the same reasoning WE HUMANS are ferals i.e. we should all be removed from national parks! We brought the feral animals her in the first place – I should say hunters brought the feral animals here to shoot and continue to introduce them to the forests to breed up and for something to shoot. I vehemently oppose the terrorisation of native animals by flying bullets and bullets that blast their faces off often not killing them outright but leaving them to die slowly and painfully. I also strongly oppose the littering of beer cans and rubbish that always accompany hunters. Comments above accuse those caring about animals as being selfish when in fact taking another’s life for the fun of it is the most selfish thing anyone can do. The hunter’s claim that no casualties have resulted from hunting in Victoria and state forests is an outright lie. Google ‘state forests + Australia + hunting accidents’.