Who will be liable for the first human killed by a bullet in a national park while hiking, camping, picnicking?
Will it be a child, a pregnant woman or an overseas tourist?
Is a $3 billion deal worth sacrificing a $35 billion international tourism industry?
Barry O’Farrell should be liable for any deaths. Unfortunately we have to wait for people to die before anything will change …..
Our wildlife will have no safe refuge now. Birds will flee in terror at the deafening sound of guns exploding and shattering the once pristine silence. Non-target native animals will be shot and killed by speeding bullets. Gone will be the peace of our fauna’s paradise, to be replaced with trashy humans littering Gondwanana land with lead bullets and their rubbish as they trample over more threatened fauna, spreading seeds of feral weeds.
Who will police these hunters to make sure they are in fact all licensed, following the guidelines and not causing inhumane suffering to animals, and most importantly, not shooting the wrong type of animal or too many? The answer is nobody will – they will police themselves! That’s right, the fox is guarding the hen house which means our national parks, nature reserves and State Conservation Areas will become hoons’ paradise to enter any time day or night and shoot whatever, legally and illegally. NPWS is already overworked and understaffed – same with the Police Force.
No wonder Australia has the world’s worst record for mammal extinctions – this new bill will only make things exponentially worse!
Alison Polistchuk
Burringbar NSW
