The Hodgman Liberal Government is delivering on our policy to better manage deer, game and browsing animals with the announcement today of the members of the new Tasmanian Game Council.
The Council will be the peak body providing advice to the Minister on delivering Quality Deer Management in Tasmania, hunting and game management, browsing animal management, and deer farming matters.
The Council will be chaired by the former independent Western Tiers MLC Greg Hall, who is a farmer and has extensive experience across the issues affecting agriculture and rural communities.
The Council will provide advice on a number of the Government’s policy initiatives arising from our response to the Legislative Council inquiry into wild fallow deer, including Quality Deer Management, reducing red tape and supporting farmers to manage browsing animal damage, and the feasibility of a limited trial of the potential to develop value-added products from wild deer.
In addition, in consultation with the new Council, the Parks and Wildlife Service will provide access to additional hunting areas by the next deer season.
We are delivering on our Policy to provide opportunities for appropriately licensed and registered shooters to hunt wild fallow deer in National Parks, the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Conservation Areas, Regional Reserves and/or Game Reserves.
Responsible recreational hunters play a positive role in conservation and wildlife management, complementing professional control programs.
Recreational hunting permits in our parks and reserves will be limited to designated areas away from those areas frequented by visitors, and informed by the state-wide deer population census.
The new Game Services Tasmania within DPIPWE is also up-and-running with a strong primary industries focus and this year’s State Budget included $150,000 in additional funding to coordinate a comprehensive state-wide census of wild fallow deer.
The public expression of interest process for the Council attracted over 60 applications, demonstrating the strong interest in the issues associated with game and browsing animal management.
Council members were appointed for their relevant skills and experience, rather than as representatives of specific organisations, in the areas of:
Hunting and game animal management: Andrew Winwood, Don Riddell, and Scott Freeman.
Commercial farming and grazing management: Louisa Street, Don Jones, and Alastair Cameron.
Deer farming: Anthony Archer.
Natural Resource Management: Jim Wilson.
Private Land Conservation: James Hattam.
Public Land Management: Jean-Paul Morice.
The associated field of meat processing and value-adding: Anthony Gibbons.
The Hodgman Government’s balanced approach to managing deer, game and browsing animals protects the Tasmanian way of life and delivers on our target to grow the value of agriculture to $10 billion by 2050.