Government meets deer hunters half way in response to VEAC report

24 June 2021

The Victorian Government has, this morning, responded to the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council’s (VEAC) report on its Central West Investigation, creating three new National Parks totalling over 60,000ha.

In a first for National Parks outside of Eastern Victoria, deer hunters will have seasonal access to areas of the new Parks through the winter period. The game sanctuary in the Mt Cole State Park will also be removed, clarifying legal access for hunters there.

VEAC’s report was released just over two years ago.

The report recommended that the former game sanctuary at Mt Cole, which was declared in the 1920’s be abolished to give legal certainty to recreational deer hunting in State Forests in that area. The sting in the tail however was that much of that State Forest was recommended to be reclassified as National Park and for deer hunting to be restricted in there. The final recommendations were to turn a staggering 77,377ha of State Forest into either National Parks or other similarly restrictive land classifications, leaving just 11,901ha of State Forest for active recreational users in the region.

Following the release of the report both the ADA and the SSAA (Vic) had discussions with Government outlining our concerns and seeking better access for deer hunters. We acknowledge that this will result in some hunters losing some access which is regrettable and something that we worked to avoid. This change will also only provide very limited opportunities for hunters who work with dogs. Whilst we didn’t get everything we asked for, we thank Minister D’Ambrosio and DELWP for hearing our concerns and delivering access outside of the recommendations in the VEAC report. The principle that deer hunting is an appropriate use of National Parks is a very important one. 

Minister D'Ambrosio said “we’re listening to the communities that use and care for these areas and balancing the needs of public land users, industry and the environment."

From the outset the VEAC investigation betrayed a fundamental lack of understanding of hunting and demonstrated what looks for all the world like an ideological bias against it. Indications of this are the erroneous classification of hunting along with industrial uses of the forests and the contention that recreational hunting is somehow not compatible with the objectives of National Parks and other similarly restrictive reserves.

Those objectives typically include:

•  Permanently protect the natural environment and natural biodiversity along with underlying ecological structure and supporting environmental processes
•  Protect the rights and interests of Traditional Owners, native title holders and Aboriginal Victorians, and their cultural values
•  Protect historic sites and values
•  Provide for ecologically sustainable scientific, educational, inspirational, recreational and visitor opportunities consistent with conserving those values

Recreational hunting, and other active uses of public land are compatible with all of those objectives.

We await further details and will publish them as they come to hand.