The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has thrown its support of Nationals leader and Shadow Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh for his wild dog proposal, but Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford said it would “…send the cooperative efforts by government and farmers back decades”.
On Monday, Ms Pulford said expressions of interest for membership of the Wild Dog Management Advisory Committee were still open (closing on Wednesday, January 18).
She said this new committee would ensure direct community input, in addition to the six additional members representing stakeholders including farmers and other landholders. It will complement the work of the Wild Dog Action Plan Delivery Group that monitors the plan’s implementation.
The VFF has challenged the state government to consider outsourcing aerial baiting, which it said could make the $6.2 million of additional funding, announced in the 2016-17 Victorian Budget, more effective.
“Hundreds of thousands of dollars are currently spent on spring and autumn aerial baiting, but if the contract to bait wild dogs went out to tender, the government could save money and invest more in expanding the program,” VFF Land Management Committee chairman Gerry Leach said
“Companies would be bidding against each other for the contract and the aerial baiting could be achieved for a much better price than we are currently seeing.”
Mr Leach said the VFF supported a push to increase the number of landholders on its Wild Dog Management Committee.
“The committee sorely needs to be led by farmers with experience in wild dog management because these are the people who understand the seriousness of the problem,” he said.