The Hodgman Liberal Government is delivering on its plan to better manage Tasmania’s wild fallow deer population.
The State Budget included an additional $150,000 to undertake a state-wide census on wild deer populations, a key part of our comprehensive response to last year’s Legislative Council Inquiry on wild fallow deer in Tasmania.
We recognise that the management of wild deer is an important issue involving many stakeholders, which is why we are taking a sensible and balanced approach to this issue.
Two other initiatives were establishing the new Game Services Tasmania with a primary industries focus in DPIPWE, which is now complete, and the establishment of the Tasmanian Game Council, which is well advanced.
Game Services Tasmania is a specialist unit to help landholders, farmers, hunters and other stakeholders to effectively manage deer and all issues relating to game and browsing animals.
The Tasmanian Game Council will be the peak body providing advice to the Minister on delivering contemporary and effective Quality Deer Management in Tasmania, hunting and game management, browsing animal management and deer farming matters.
The methodology for the state-wide census will be developed in consultation with the new Game Council, farmers and hunters, and the census will ultimately provide benchmark data and help inform future quality deer management strategies and monitoring programs.
The Hodgman Liberal Government’s balanced approach to managing wild fallow deer aligns with Tasmania’s Sustainable Agri-Food Plan and our target to grow the annual value of agriculture to $10 billion by 2050.
Contact: Martin Gilmour 0417 030632
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