Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Darren Chester is calling on the Federal Government to reinstate funding for national wild dog control to help reduce the economic and environmental impact.
Mr Chester is backing calls from the National Farmers’ Federation for funding certainty for the National Wild Dog Management Coordinator and the National Wild Dog Action Plan.
“Wild dogs are a menace to Australia’s biodiversity and agricultural production, with an estimated $302 million annual burden on Australian agriculture,” Mr Chester said.
“The toll on farmers’ mental health from wild dog attacks is enormous and we are simply not doing enough at state or federal government level.
“We need more boots and fewer suits. That means more boots on the ground doing active environmental management and pest animal control, and fewer suits in the cities making excuses.”
Mr Chester said wild dogs were imposing an enormous social, economic and environmental cost on regional communities, and both levels of government need to work together to use every available lever to control the problem.
“In terms of mental health and stress, just imagine working all day to care for your stock, going home at night for a quick bite to eat, and then grabbing your rifle to head back out and control wild dogs on your property,” Mr Chester said.
“That is the lived reality for too many farmers.”
The nation’s leading wild dog management program is facing an uncertain future, prompting the NFF to call on the Federal Government to urgently recommit funding.
NFF president Hamish McIntyre said wild dogs were a serious threat.
“Wild dogs are especially cruel killers, often leaving livestock to suffer slow, painful deaths from their bites, and farmers already spend millions of dollars and countless hours managing wild dogs,” Mr McIntyre said.
“These wild dogs come from all directions, including national parks and Crown land. It makes them very difficult to track.
“It’s vital that the National Coordinator is reinstated come September. If funding isn’t renewed, we’ll be undoing more than a decade of progress.
“We need national support, and a crucial part of that is through the National Wild Dog Management Coordinator and the National Wild Dog Action Plan.”
Multiple industry bodies are already committing to co-fund the program.
“Without this nationally aligned approach, control efforts would become fragmented and less efficient, leading to increased livestock losses, reduced producer confidence, and heightened pressure on rural communities and ecosystems,” Mr McIntyre said.
Mr Chester has written to the Albanese Government, urging it to provide certainty for farmers dealing with the issue on the ground.
“Farmers are already doing the hard work on the ground, often at great personal and financial cost,” Mr Chester said.
“They deserve practical support, proper coordination and a Federal Government that understands the scale of the problem.
“Walking away from wild dog management now would put livestock, native wildlife, farm businesses and rural communities at greater risk.”
Funding for the National Wild Dog Management Coordinator expires at the end of September, with funding for the National Wild Dog Action Plan expiring a month later.
