2017-03-22
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — I was amazed to hear the Minister for Agriculture in question time yesterday describe the opening of the duck shooting season last weekend as 'orderly' and 'a relief to hunters'. Only someone who was not present at the wetlands could make such a statement. What I witnessed at First Marsh near Kerang on Saturday morning was nothing short of a relentless massacre of birds — and not just ducks. Hundreds of protected, rare and threatened species were shot and left to die. It was shocking and sickening. By Monday morning duck rescuers had recovered more than 800 dead waterbirds, largely from the marshes. It was the most they had recovered in the first weekend in 31 years. The majority of the birds were young, which not only represents the cruelty inflicted but also will impact on the breeding ability of those bird groups. The protected birds include 68 freckled ducks, 21 blue-billed ducks, 24 blue-winged shovelers, 34 Eurasian coots and 25 grebes. These are all protected and vulnerable species.
The minister also said 'certainly the overwhelming majority of duck hunters do the right thing'. Well, the evidence does not bear that out, with hundreds of protected species left to die at the marshes. She did not take the opportunity yesterday to condemn that.