Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Environment spokesperson
The Tasmanian Greens have today written to Minister for Environment Roger Jaensch calling on him to intervene and stop the hunting of native ducks in Tasmania.
Every year during Tasmania's duck shooting season, 40,000-50,000 native ducks are killed in just three months. This recreational event continues despite the obvious pain and suffering inflicted on birds, the threat to declining duck populations, and widespread community opposition.
Supporters of duck shooting have again attempted to justify this retrograde practice as important for tourism, necessary for farmers, essential for conservation, and helping people put food on their plates. What a load of self-serving baloney.
The argument from shooters that each of them only takes a handful of ducks each year is patently false. If that's the case, why is the 2023 season limit per shooter a ludicrous 10 ducks each day for 3 months? The government is sanctioning the opportunity for each individual hunter to shoot 930 ducks in three months.
Duck shooting is a recreation for pleasure, enjoyed by a tiny 0.2% of Tasmanians – but opposed for its cruelty and environmental impacts by people from all walks of life.
How is it that 40,000-50,000 native ducks are allowed to be shot, when across the eastern seaboard most ‘game’ duck populations have crashed to 10% or less of long-term numbers – and continue to decline? The Liberals support this appalling practice to appease the shooters’ lobby – just as they did with their failed attempt to weaken Tasmania’s gun laws in 2018.
It’s well past time for duck shooting to be banned in Tasmania, and we hope the Minister for the Environment will do his job and make sure ending the needless slaughter of native animals is put ahead of recreational pleasure.