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Agriculture | October 07, 2019

Labor guts kangaroo pet food program

Kangaroos controlled under an Authority to Control Wildlife permit can no longer be processed for pet food under the Andrews Labor Government’s new Kangaroo Harvesting Program.

The Kangaroo Harvesting Program replaces the Kangaroo Pet Food Trial, which has run for the past five years

The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy said the decision was another example of just how little the city-centric Labor government understands the challenges farmers and landholders face.

“The kangaroo pet food program, set up by The Nationals, had gone through five years of delayed extensions and uncertainty under Daniel Andrews,” Ms Kealy said.

“The Andrews Government now says it will set up seven ‘sustainable harvesting areas’ instead for pet food, which is almost guaranteed to be strangled by bureaucracy and red tape.”

The revised program starts this week however it is unknown where the seven regions are or how sustainable yields have been set.

“At the heart of this decision is the fact that Labor doesn’t like this program and they don’t want it to work.

“The Andrews Government is shutting this program down by stealth at a time when farmers are under immense pressure from increased kangaroo numbers.”

Shadow Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh said Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes should explain her changes. 

“The Minister is illogical if she thinks it’s better to leave kangaroos carcasses lying in the paddock to be eaten by wild dogs and foxes than having them used for pet food.”