Yesterday, March 27, at NSW Parliament House, a coalition comprising community members, and political representatives assembled to deliver a petition with over 11,000 signatures. The petition demands the repeal of the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018, with the Invasive Species Council (ISC) asserting it reflects growing environmental concern.
According to parliamentary procedures, the significant number of signatures automatically initiates a debate in the legislative assembly. The petition was formally presented to Dr Joe McGirr, the Independent Member for Wagga Wagga, and will now be tabled by Dr McGirr for debate in NSW Parliament.
PHOTO: A cross-party coalition – Members of Parliament joined reclaim Kosci to deliver the petition CREDITS: Reclaim Kosci
Linda Groom, a volunteer and Reclaim Kosci petition coordinator, emphasised, “The Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018 is a bad piece of legislation because it protects a feral animal in one of our most glorious national parks.” She added that public sentiment has markedly changed, with increasing support for measures, including lethal control, to safeguard the park’s wildlife and streams.
Dr Joe McGirr, Independent Member for Wagga Wagga, who tabled the petition, remarked, “The petition will trigger a debate in parliament which will be an important opportunity for all MPs to debate the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act – a counter-productive law that prioritises an introduced species over native flora and fauna.”
PHOTO: Under NSW Parliament rules, the size of this petition triggers a parliamentary debate.
The Act, introduced by former Deputy Premier John Barilaro, mandates a minimum of 3,000 wild horses in KNP, which protestors argue harms native species such as the Corroboree Frog. Richard Swain, an Indigenous Ambassador for the Invasive Species Council, asserted, “There should be no laws on the books that protect a feral animal over our native animals.”
However the move has upset other groups, with The Australian Brumby Alliance (ABA) yesterday vehemently opposed to the call from the ISC to repeal the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018. The ABA rejected the ISC’s claim to represent the broader NSW or Australian community.
The President of ABA, Mrs Nikki Alberts, called for a balance to be restored to this debate, following the release of numbers she said indicate the original estimates of brumbies in the Park were grossly inflated.
“Only a small number of wild horses remain, following the ISC’s campaign to reinstate aerial culling resulted in the slaughter of over 7,000 horses, Mrs Alberts asserted,” said Mrs Alberts.
“These unique and historically significant wild horses are deeply important to so many everyday Australians, and this was reflected in the 2018 Act after broad and genuine consultation.”
“Yet following the biggest slaughter of horses since WW1 over the last 2 years they are now facing the risk of extinction.”
As a resident and registered voter of NSW, I strongly oppose Aerial culling of brumbies in NSW.
I strongly oppose the Invasive Species Council actively seeking to repeal the current Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018.
The current Heritage Act should be kept unchanged, with the exception of removing lethal methods from management practices.
There is no scientific evidence That horses have caused damage or harm to the environment or Native Animals.
This seems a vendetta against the horses when it is many other factors including Massive construction sites (Snowy Hydro 2) and monster steel constructions.
Feral pig numbers are out of control and they do so much damage to the environment and Native animals. Unfortunately, the horses are blamed for damage caused by pigs.
The horse numbers have been exaggerated to suit and agenda.
Invasive Species Council should consider all factors before setting sites on innocent Horses.
Australians in general love the Brumbies and always look out for them in the wild. They are very special to this country.
I am gobsmacked this non government extremist organisation are at it again. Reliant on big donations from extremist environmental groups to function, they adopt a radical outlook to win favour, offering to challenge Legislation that recognises the Heritage and cultural values of Australia’s Brumbies and provides legislation to protect them and the environment.
Let the Minister do her job, butt out with your radical ideological and anti social values and views. Australians love our Brumbies! Long live The Silver Brumby, The Man From Snowy River and Save Our Brumbies protected by Legislation
Stop the barbaric, inhumane torture and slaughter of our Australian Brumbies. They are as iconic as the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Acknowledged world wide, treasured through wars, and wrongly accused by ignorance!
The brumbies do not damage their homelands but assist through grazing. I have pride in our country and history,please don’t destroy it!
Please leave our Brumbies alone .
They aren’t doing any damage. Snowy 2.0 is destroying more native habitats plus all the walking tracks plus toboggans.
Please recognise our heritage horses who where there with our soldiers fighting the war, no choice, now those decenced running free keeping the bush vegetation down ,bush fires ,weeds at bay . if your smart you know what I am talking about
Nature lets enjoy them Australia,stop shooting our heritage horses and foals ,dieing a horrific death they is always a better way
I am ashamed to be a resident and register voter of NSW while these die hard leftards and radical professional protesters continue to try and convince the population and the government to repeal the Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018 and condone the cruelty and slaughter of our iconic Heritage horse populations based on proven flawed reports by NPS and ISC. Joe MCGirr is a disgrace to the Riverina and the people that elected him into his position. I didn’t and I certainly don’t recall him using the slaughter of brumbies as his platform to be elected. How true the old saying is, “you run with dogs you get fleas”. In this case it is wild feral pigs, fattened up on the carcasses of these legendary sentient horses. What an appalling travesty in the lead up to Anzac Day. My grandfather a WW1 veteran and Sargent Farrier in the 4 th Light Horse, rode in the charge of Beersheba and was mentioned in despatches for his commitment and care to these same bloodlines of Australian horses.
What has happened to this country that can allow this decimation with no proven justification.
Brumbies are causing significantly less destruction to the environment than humans. They are keeping vegetation low reducing fuel for summer fires which have caused the near extinction of some plant and animal species.
How much paper, toner and ink was used for this petition.
Has this petition been audited? A paper petition is open to fraudulent signatures as it can be signed by the same person on multiple occasions.
I implore Parliament to uphold the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018 and disregard the petition and the Invasive Species Councils efforts to remove all Brumbies due to the lack of accurate numbers, research and the possibility of a fraudulent petition.
I am appalled by this action to repel the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act.
That ensures the protection of our Wild Horses( Brumbies) and their humane treatment.
There has not be wide consultation with those who live in the Kosciuszko and interact with the brumbies and know first hand how they tread the land and interact with other animals, brumby sanctuary groups,brumby rescue groups or historical groups who know the history of wild horses in Kosciuszko.
Further no reference to the work of Craig Downer ecologist who has studied wild horses across continents including Australia.
and the importance of them in local ecology.
This action to try to repel The Act is not supported by me.
What is supported by me is the continued protection and humane treatment of our Wildhorses under legislation.
Annette Smith, well said!
Leave our iconic majestic brumbies to their enduring relationship with the Australian bush. They DO NOT damage their environment, but enhance and protect the area by grazing to reduce the risk of bush fire, and also spreading seeds to germinate. The damage is being done by the thousands of wild pigs (wallowing) and deer (small sharp hooves). Everyone comments on our pristine wilderness and the reason it is pristine is because the brumbies look after it. I cannot comprehend how our government/s are being seduced by all these woke groups around at the moment. Do you not understand that once the brumbies are gone, they are REALLY gone?? It is horrific to think that one of our icons will be no more. You may as well blow up the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Australia is being watched worldwide to see how this farce plays out.
This is led by Invasive Species Council which promotes the use of 1080 poison in National Parks, destroys wildlife, eagles, goanna and lizards.
Radical anti cultural extremists
Invasive Species Council and the government should see this research footage truth. You are damaging the environment removing the Brumbies. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bPlM2HWr_UI
Please view to learn the benefits and the similar animals that lived in Australia.
The Brumbies have been living here in our parks SYNERGISTICALLY with ALL the other wildlife for over 200yrs..
STOP with the Inhumane Slaughter of OUR BRUMBIES.. It’s Distressing, NO ANIMAL Deserves to be treated is such a way..! And anyone that thinks this is Acceptable, has serious issues and should NOT be involved in the care and support of our Country and its Flora and Fauna..
The viewing and following of the lives of OUR Australian Heritage Brumbies is a large part of our lives for Generations and we wish to continue to share these Magnificent sights with OUR Families and Friends for generations to come..
THIS PETITION SHOWS HOW LITTLE THIS GROUP UNDERSTANDS THE BRUMBIES IN THE ENVIORNMENT. It has been proven overseas and scientifically that wild horses actually benefit the eco system they reside in, that is why many European countries are reintroducing wild horses from areas they had removed them from , in order to save the ecosystem. Many many animals and insects also plants thrive with the presence of the wild horses and without them the ecosystem diminishes. For over 200 years brumbies have roamed the mountains and the mountains have flourished ,no animals or plants have become extinct due to brumbies and the claims by this group and Penny Sharpe MLC are based on nonsense and have been disproven. The numbers of brumbies are now below 1000 because of the liars and their manipulated count stating there were 23,000 brumbies up there. I have seen Penny Sharpes plans for the mountains and the damage that they will cause to the environment is quite extensive but this group doesnt mention that do they ?? no they are going of misinformation and their hate of horses.Is this the same petition sponsored by Penny Sharp that mislead the people signing it that they were signing a different thing altogether???? I would question its authenticity and where the actual signatories came from and how many were coerced into signing thinking they were signing for the removal of pigs , deer and cats not the brumbiy heritage removal. This would give Penny Sharpe exactly what she wanted the chance to shoot every horse on the mountain, She is one cold callous person who actually voted to save teh brumbies when she was in opposition but now because they stand in the way of her developments plans wants to kill them all. I bet none of these imbiciles would shoot a mare and foal if you gave tham a gun
It seems the more extreme your views, and if backed by deep pockets, you can get any sort of outrage pushed before the government. I completely oppose this latest assault upon the brumby population. It’s only been placed there because the government knew that there were nowhere near the 20000 brumbies they claimed. Now they have decimated the numbers to only a few hundred, they had to dream up this petition because they are in violation of the legislation. 100% cover your ass move. It has zero to do with protecting the environment. Sickening. We love our brumbies. They have as much right to be there as we imported humans.
I am comlpetly outraged by this Government’s Abhorent Acts of animal cruelty on our most treasured iconic Heritage Listed Snowy Mountain Brumbies .As Australians they are who we are they are our history and heritage . These iconic Heritage Listed Brumbies must be treasured and allowed to live their lives in peace in their home the Snowy Mountains of N.S.W. This is their home and it is their right . This Wild Horse Heritage Act that was put in place in 2018 must must be upheld for all future generations .What they are doing is a crime against an Australian Iconic Legend .Their actions of the barbaric Ariel Shooting and slaughter of these precious horses is Inhumane Animal cruelty at the highest level one of which I have never ever seen before in this country , and they must be held accountable . The National Parks and Invasive Species Council have a very sick ideology leading to abhorrent obsessive behaviour which must never be tolerated in this country They are put simply UN Australian . For gods sake please protect our Maghificant Snowy Mountain Brumbies . Rae.
I am absolutely appalled to see these idealist greenies pushing their agenda yet again to repeal the Wild Horse Heritage Act and destroy what is left of our high country history forever. The ISC, Reclaim Kosci and Dr McGirr DO NOT REPRESENT the majority population of NSW. The continuing lies made by the ISC and Reclaim Kosci to garner support for the complete annihilation of our wild horses is truly disturbing. The ISC in particular push for the hatred of particular animals to push their idealist rubbish forward. You only need to look at the comments made by their Facebook page members to see the type of lowlifes they attract! Has their lust for blood not been appeased yet!
Penny Sharpe has still not released the number count from 2024 and has shown no indication it will be released anytime soon. She has stated that the numbers have been reduced to between 3000 and 4000 yet has no evidence to back this up. The continuing stalling of the numbers release can only lead to the conclusion that there is in fact less than the 3000 required by the Act left in the park. The timing of this sickening petition also indicates their desire to repeal the Act so there will be no repercussion for not following it and retaining the required 3000 horses!
The ISC and Reclaim Kosci claim the horses are destroying the park and yet they do no protesting against SNOWY HYDRO II or ongoing developments within the park that are destroying the environment. These private organisations are government funded, they are not representing the people of NSW or the Snowy Monaro region.
Millions of dollars of tax payer money has been wasted on aerial shooting of the iconic high country horses. What a great pity that money wasn’t spent on supporting and funding the rehoming of the horses instead or used to fund homes for people in the region!
I DO NOT IN ANY WAY SUPPORT A REPEAL OF THE WILD HORSE HERITAGE ACT!
It is beyond belief that the Government has bowed to the Invasive Species Council, a private non Government organisation. This organisation is affiliated with a similar overseas organisation and is very generously financially supported by them.
Not only are the brumbies part of our heritage, they are an important part of keeping the mountain areas safe from fire, invasive weeds etc.
What will be the next target of the Invasive Species Target be? It should be the European wasps, cane toads, fire ants etc but it won’t be because they are not part of our country’s heritage.