Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Environment spokesperson
Gun shots echoed across Tasmania’s inland waterways this morning, as native ducks were blasted out of the skies in the name of ‘sport’.
Over the next few months, ducks will be shot in their tens of thousands. Protected Tasmanian birds, and others that have flown from mainland states to take refuge in our wetlands, will be slaughtered.
Today we bore witness to what Primary Industries Minister, Guy Barnett, sickeningly refers to as a ‘traditional Tasmanian way of life’.
We saw ducks being shot out of the skies, injured and dying It was distressingly cruel.
Guy Barnett is wrong. The slaughter of native ducks, which has numbered 50,000 in previous years, is not part of the Tasmanian identity.
On behalf of the Greens, I commend the 30 protesters who were present at Moulting Lagoon to protect as many ducks as possible – and to rescue hurt birds.
We need to follow the lead of other states and ban inhumane and unsustainable wild duck shooting. It’s long overdue.
Lutruwita/Tasmania should be a sanctuary for wildlife. This must be the last season an annual duck slaughter is permitted.
Photots and video files of Moulting Lagoon protest here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=14rkxQtFlmIosXuF8HCrfwkBR_XBlLWOk