Greens MP and environment spokesperson Cate Faehrmann has said it’s not surprising the head of the Office of Environment and Heritage, Sally Barnes, once wrote a memo slamming any move to allow recreational hunters into national parks. For details see article in today’s Sydney Morning Herald.

“I doubt you could find anyone who works for the Office of Environment and Heritage who could say recreational hunting in National Parks is a great idea while passing a lie detector test,” said Ms Faehrmann.

“National Parks and Wildlife Officers have been campaigning against the government’s dirty deal with the Shooters Party from day one. They are outraged that the government could compromise our precious national park estate in this way.

“Anyone who cares about conservation knows in their heart that this is a rotten deal for the people of the NSW and for national parks. Sally Barnes is no exception.

“I’ve been told that morale at the Office of Environment and Heritage has hit rock bottom because this government has done nothing to hide the fact it doesn’t give a stuff about the environment.

“This should not be about the bureaucrats who have to implement Barry O’Farrell’s dirty deals. The focus needs to be on the government, which has sold out the people of NSW by doing deals with gun-loving extremists,” said Ms Faehrmann.

South East Forests, courtesy of Henry Gold.

Greens MP and environment spokesperson Cate Faehrmann has said the government has every intention of permanently opening up some national parks to grazing and is being dishonest with the public by calling it a ‘trial’.

“To call this a ‘trial’ is misleading the people of NSW. We can expect to see grazing continue in national parks whilever the National Party is part of the NSW government,” said Ms Faehrmann.

“Under this government our national parks have become little more than playgrounds for hunters, horse riders and now cattle. What’s next, 4WDs?

“The Environment Minister Robyn Parker seems to have completely missed the fact that her role is to protect and conserve the state’s environment. Either that, or her voice carries absolutely no weight in Cabinet against the furious lobbying of National Party members who hate national parks.

“The National Party and some graziers have been lobbying for access to National parks for years. Just continuing all grazing that was permitted when these national parks were state forests has no scientific basis and flies in the face of responsible environmental management.

“The Environment Minister admits in her press release that this is a trade off between environment and “regional economies”.

“If Robyn Parker and Barry O’Farrell understood the value of our parks for biodiversity, tourism and jobs, she’d be increasing protection for our parks, not trashing them.

“Robyn Parker wrote to me in March saying the government had no plans for a grazing trial anywhere in the state. This is yet another broken promise by the O’Farrell government and yet one more axe taken to our battered National Parks.

‘Barry O’Farrell is killing off our national parks with ‘death by thousand cuts’,” said Ms Faehrmann.

Media contact: Peter Stahel 0433 005 727

Greens MP and environment spokeswoman Cate Faehrmann says slashing 350 so-called ‘back office’ jobs in the Office of Environment and Heritage will undermine responsible science based policy development and is yet another indication of just how anti-science the O’Farrell government has become.

“Gutting professional staff like this once again shows this Government’s contempt for science based environmental policy,” said Ms Faehrmann.

“Environment Minister Robyn Parker is trying to dress this outright attack on environmental protection as restructuring to meet the needs of the OEH ‘customers’. However when it comes to a public service like OEH, it is precisely these ‘back office’ staff who undertake scientific research and policy development,” Ms Faehrmann said.

“The OEH is being hit with job cuts at the same time as they are being hit with the extra responsibility of babysitting amateur hunters following the Premier’s deal with the Shooters Party.

“The Minister is pretending that the job losses will improve the public’s access to National Parks. This is absolute rubbish. The job losses will damage service delivery right across the department to the detriment of the community and, unfortunately most of all, the environment,” said Ms Faehrmann.

A Legislative Council inquiry was established on 23 April 2012 to inquire into the management of public land.

This inquiry is conducted by the General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5. Robert Brown, from the Shooters and Fishers Party is the Chair and I am a member of the committee.

The public is invited to make submissions and there will be public hearings during August, September, October and a final hearing in December. I encourage you to make a submission as the integrity of our National Parks are at stake.

Submissions close: 3 Aug 2012
Final Report Due: 30 Apr 2013

You can email your submission to gpscno5@parliament.nsw.gov.au

The NSW Coalition Government with the collusion of the Shooters and Fishers have already launched attacks on the integrity of National Parks in NSW. This inquiry has been set up to deliberately further undermine their future.

In your submission it is important to emphasise the following:

• Australia has international and national obligations to conserve biological diversity and this we can do by preserving the integrity of our public land under conservation and in fact extending it where ever possible.
• By signing the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1993 we promised “to sustain the rich diversity of life on Earth”. We must take this obligation seriously.
• The Federal Government’s National Reserve System works to increase the amount of land under conservation. It is underpinned by a scientific framework to ensure that Australia progressively extends protection to examples of all our ecosystems.
• The scientific framework has a clear objective: to develop a ‘comprehensive, adequate and representative’ system of protected areas – commonly referred to as the ‘CAR’ reserve system.
• Local economies benefit from ecological sustainable activities and must be permitted time to adjust to changing or new activities once public land has been converted to conservation land. eg. River Red Gum State Forests in the southern Riverina will not only support the natural environment but given time will boost local economies through sustainable industries.
• Check out the NSW National Parks Establishment Plan 2008 for a good summary of our obligations to ensure a healthy reserve system for NSW and why continuing to build the reserve system is so important.

Environment Minister Robyn Parker has announced an expansion of horse riding in national parks and a trial of riding in a declared wilderness area. Unfortunately, horses are agents of erosion and vectors of weeds that pose a threat to successful nature conservation. You can read my submission on this reckless new policy.

Add your photo to the “Don’t Shoot! I’m a bushwalker” campaign to stop our national parks being opened up to recreational hunters.

Nightcap National Park on the NSW North Coast will be one of the parks impacted. Nightcap is one of the state’s most spectacular national parks – protected for nature and for people to enjoy.  It is not a game reserve for amateur hunters.

Tell Premier Barry O’Farrell: “Don’t Shoot! I love my national parks.”

Download and print this poster here, then upload a photo of you at your favourite national park to my Facebook page (and email me a copy too! cate.faehrmann@parliament.nsw.gov.au)

Once you’ve added your photo to the campaign. Use the form below to register your protest directly with the Premier. A written petition can be downloaded from my colleague David Shoebridge’s campaign page here. And you can read more about the Premier’s deal here.

 

Dear Premier

Please do not allow recreational hunting in National Parks. Please don't open up some of our precious natural areas to amateur hunters for the sake of electricity privatisation. Our parks, native animals and public safety are too important.

The justification based on feral animal control is false. Amateur recreational hunting is not an effective way to control feral animals. Feral animal control requires well designed, sustained, targeted and humane eradication strategies. No mainstream conservation organisation supports recreational hunting for feral animal control.

Instead, please support more resources to the National Parks & Wildlife Service to control feral animals professionally and humanely. National Parks are there for nature, they are not hunting reserves. This is a very dangerous precedent that if approved changes the face of National Parks forever.

Please do not sell out our National Parks and environment.

Yours sincerely

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