The NSW Government’s announcement of a further 39 state forests in which hunting will be allowed further increases the risk of a tragic accident these coming school holidays, said NSW Greens Upper House MPs Ian Cohen and Lee Rhiannon.
“Parents should be extremely concerned for the safety of their children if they enter a State Forest that has been declared open for hunting,” Ms Rhiannon said.
“People in State Forests during summer holidays will have no way of knowing how many armed hunters are roaming through the bush. It is madness to allow hunters and the public into forests at the same time.
“Hunters are required to wear brightly-coloured clothing to stand out in the bush – perhaps holiday-makers should also take the same measures to avoid being hurt,” Ms Rhiannon said.
“There are now 181 NSW State Forests open to hunting, under the guise of feral animal control. The Greens support measures to control feral animals, but it should be in the hands of trained experts rather than amateurs,” said Mr Cohen.
“Supporters of hunting in State forests claim that hunters are competent and well intentioned, and possibly many of them are.
“It is not the competent ones that are the problem. It only takes a small rogue element to create an unacceptable level of risk for people and their pets as well as native animals.
“The Government would be better off investing in attracting and training professional feral animal controllers rather than risking people’s lives with this ill considered policy,” Mr Cohen said.
Further Information: Ian Cohen 0409 989 466 or Lee Rhiannon 0427 861 568 or 9230 3551
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