This week, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan signalled a powerful new direction. She is cutting red tape from the kangaroo control permit process to ensure property owners can quickly deal with kangaroo populations affecting their farms. Under the new program, farmers can now get permits in fewer than seven days. This amendment is important since extreme and persistent drought remains an all-too-common thread for agricultural producers statewide.
It comes after the inaugural meeting of the Victorian government’s drought task force, conducted in Camperdown last week. On Friday, Shepparton welcomed the runners for a second meeting. The event’s robust conversation underscored the importance of rapidly addressing the challenges that farmers are facing right now.
Permit Process Streamlined
Now, under the new guidelines, the process for receiving kangaroo control permits will be shortened dramatically. Farmers are already experiencing delays that exceed a week’s time. This creates a real challenge for them to protect those precious grasslands from ever-increasing stress.
Ms. Allan emphasized the importance of acting swiftly, stating, “The aspiration is to change [permit approvals] to less than one week.” This change aims to alleviate the stress on farmers who struggle with kangaroos competing for limited resources during drought periods.
“We’ve got to do it humanely, we’ve got to look at how it can be done through non-lethal control mechanisms, but it’s got to be done.” – Jacinta Allan
Impact on Farmers
Brett Hosking, president of the VFF, said farmers were thankful that the government had abandoned its proposal. The lobbyist for Farmers for Climate Action explained how the increased kangaroo population places a significant burden on stressed Australian pastures. “Kangaroos [are] competing for the last bit of feed and the last bit of water,” he said.
Being forced into resource competition with kangaroos and farmers are now seeing malnourished animals coming in who can barely make it. “Farmers are seeing hungry malnourished kangaroos, with some enduring painful starvation,” Hosking explained.
Government Support Initiatives
In addition to fast-tracking permit approvals, Ms. Allan said that the government would consult on additional support measures. She flagged the idea of providing farmers with rebates to help them control kangaroo numbers. “It’s just another way we can defray time and cost and pressure on our farmers,” she noted.
Welcomed as a step in the right direction, yet despite these efforts Hosking noted that farmers are still demanding larger financial commitments. “Farmers are crying out for bigger spending commitments,” he stated, emphasizing the ongoing need for comprehensive support.
