|
The 2002 Appeal into the NSW Kangaroo Management Plan!In 2001, on behalf of the National Kangaroo Protection Coalition, the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia filed an appeal against the NSW Kangaroo Management Plan 2002. The National Kangaroo Protection Coalition is now an alliance of 30 Australian groups which campaign on animal and wildlife protection issues.
The appeal was lodged with the NSW Administration Appeals Tribunal, an authority which has been given powers to review decisions made under particular Acts of Parliament. The appeal was based on many matters, including the unsustainability of the commercial kangaroo kill, cruelty issues which have not been addressed, and the ignoring of the community submissions during the consultation process. 80% of public submissions opposed the NSW 2002 Kangaroo Management Plan. Government departments had “fudged” the kangaroo population estimates, using counting methodology that has long been discredited. Legal issues raised in the Draft Plan consultation process had also not been addressed. We called 5 expert witnesses during the hearings, and submited a comprehensive portfolio of evidence. The appeal was a test case for all concerned, including the Administrative Appeal Tribunal process itself. Unfortunately our Appeal failed to stop the 2002 NSW Plan. Immediately after the Appeal was lost, as we have recently discovered, the NSW government quietly and secretly dismantled many of the Hygiene requirements that were implemented in the '90's, to ensure that less kangaroo bodies would be rejected. They also opened a huge new shooting area around Canberra for commercial shooting. This was our first indication that what we feared all along was really happening....the shooters were running out of kangaroos! The Management Plan expires on the 30th December 2006...this year. Of course we will Appeal the new Plan too! The submissions we made to the 2002 NSW Kangaroo Management Plan Appeal can be found at the links below.
|
