2025-09-12
The final report of the inquiry into the Game and Feral Animal Legislation Amendment (Conservation Hunting) Bill 2025 has been released today, with Greens MP Sue Higginson issuing a strong dissenting statement in the report and calling for the Minns Labor Government to walk away from the bill in its entirety.
Greens MP and spokesperson for agriculture and the environment Sue Higginson said:
“This bill was never about invasive species control, it was about the Shooters Party embedding the gun lobby into our public institutions and weakening Australia’s tough and successful gun laws here in NSW. From day one, the Greens have worked with the community to expose the real agenda behind this dangerous legislation, use the evidence about effective invasive species control and remind all of the importance of our gun safety laws,”
“When this bill was first introduced, it had the support of both the Labor Government and the Liberal-National Opposition. When I spoke to people across the Parliament it was clear they had not paid attention to what was in the bill. I pushed hard for an inquiry because I was very confident once the scientific evidence against this bill came to light people would see what this bill was really about. That evidence has now caused the Liberal Party to withdraw their support, and it’s caused Premier Chris Minns to abandon one of the most extreme provisions - the so-called ‘right to hunt’,”
“The work to stop this bill has to continue because it is possible that the Government may still support gifting almost $8 million in public funds to set up the misnamed Conservation Hunting Authority - a government-funded arm of the gun lobby whose legislated purpose would be to promote recreational hunting, and ignore evidence based invasive species control,”
“This would have been a radical step towards American-style gun politics in NSW. It would replace the existing Game and Pest Management Advisory Board with a body controlled by shooters, with no guaranteed benefit to invasive species control. It would force local councils and public land managers to review their plans of management and accommodate recreational shooting, putting serious strain on communities, councils, and public land users,”
“The inquiry heard damning evidence from Natural Resources Commission - an agency in the Premier’s own portfolio - that the bill is unwarranted, and that recreational shooting is not an effective method of invasive species control, and that the $8 million of public money would be better spent on proven, coordinated programs across land tenures,”
“NSW needs strategic and coordinated invasive species management that is led by science, not political deals between NSW Labor and the Shooters Party. We need programs that integrate baiting, aerial control, ground shooting, and ecosystem monitoring - not a rebranded Game Council,”
“Now that the Premier has actually paid attention to the bill, he has walked away from the ‘right to hunt’ and stated publicly the Government will not allocate the Shooter’s Party any more Government time for the bill to get through the Parliament, which will certainly make it harder for them. But seriously, the Premier should do the responsible thing now and walk away from the rest of this bill, rather than leaving it to us Greens in the Upper House to clean up his mess,”
“The Greens will always work to implement effective well resourced invasive species control programs across all tenures, in accordance with the highest standards of public safety, and we will not let our gun laws be weakened,” Ms Higginson said.