The Nationals leader said once again the government had elected to move its own duck hunting goalposts when it last week announced just a five-week slot for the state’s hunting season with a daily bag limit of just four birds.
Mr Walsh said the government had abandoned its commitments repeated in its Sustainable Hunting Action Plan 1 and SHAP 2 to rely on robust science to inform season setting arrangements.
He said a full-length season was recommended, based on harvest modelling by waterfowl ecology and population dynamics experts, professors Marcel Klaassen and Richard Kingsford.
“The arrangements for the 2023 Victorian duck season are based on analysis and the modelling of habitat and waterbird abundance surveys conducted across eastern Australia and other data relating to game duck abundance, habitat distribution and climate,” Mr Walsh said.
“This isn’t policy, this isn’t even planning.
“This is all about pandering to inner city greenies and hoping to earn brownie points to cash in for flawed legislation it can no longer ram through the Legislative Council without the crossbenches.
“The Andrews Labor Government is so embarrassed by its own pathetic duplicity it always tries to make any information about its next duck season betrayal as low-a-profile announcement in the hope no-one will be aware to raise any kind of ruckus.”
Mr Walsh said all the data showed bird habitat availability and breeding in 2022-23 had been exceptional, but that still ended with the state government pushing duck hunting into the realm of the irrelevant.
He said a full-length season was recommended based on harvest modelling by the experts, who also maintained in their advice to the government that reducing the bag limit was a more effective way to reduce the overall harvest of game ducks rather than reducing the season length.
“This government’s own compliance statistics show zero hunters of the 802 checked in the most recent season had exceeded their daily bag limit,” Mr Walsh said.
“Victoria’s hunting community proudly takes a leading role in the conservation of our wetlands and environments to ensure the sustainability of wetland species.
“Yet year after year they’re punished by a Labor government intent on stamping out a legal, legitimate recreational activity that helps generate $356 million for our state.
“The Liberals and Nationals continue to support Victoria’s recreational hunters.”
Victoria’s Game Management Authority on Friday confirmed the 2023 season would start on April 26 and run through to May 30.
There will be a bag limit of four birds per day, with people only allowed to hunt between 8am and 30 minutes after sunset.
Hunters will be prohibited from killing the protected blue-winged shoveler and hardhead species.
The government had been weighing up whether or not this year's season would go ahead, following repeated calls for a ban from animal welfare groups.
The government on Friday instead announced a committee would examine recreational native bird hunting in the state, given the issue was becoming "increasingly contested".
The Legislative Council committee will look at the operation of the annual hunting seasons as well as arrangements in other states, environmental sustainability and social and economic impact.
The committee will hold public hearings to hear from hunting associations, animal welfare groups and regional communities.
The government will move a motion to establish the committee during the next sitting week in March.
A final report will be tabled by August 31.
16°C