The Chronology of BETRAYAL to kangaroos has been part of a well structured plan by State and Federal bureaucrats and scientists to hoodwink an unsuspecting, apathetic Australian community. This became evident in 1988 with the 'bogus scientific' CSIRO survey based on the perceptions of land holders that kangaroos were as big a pest as blowflies. In that same year kangaroo meat was served in Parliament House. Despite protests it remains on Canberra's Parliamentary menus.

In 1992 the Queensland Nature Conservation Bill declared that where protected species are taken from the wild for commercial purposes, they become part of a "farmed system", and these species will then come under the control of the Primary Industries... to become a commodity , a resource. 

Tony Pople(Queensland) calls for harvest rates to be increased in his Aims of Kangaroo Management "Harvesting for a Sustained Yield".

"Kangaroo Management and the Sustainable Use of Rangelands" also by Tony Pople (Centre for Conservation Biology and Department of Zoology)and Dr. Steve Mc Leod (Vertebrate Pest Research Unit, NSW Agriculture) "Management of this harvest (kangaroos) has the diverse, and sometimes conflicting, goals of maintaining viable populations throughout their natural ranges, harvesting kangaroos as a renewable resource and minimising the impact of kangaroos on primary production. A consequence of reduced kangaroo population size is reduced long-term harvest off take, which could compromise the commercial viability of the kangaroo industry whose economic value is substantial, particularly in rural areas."

• Gordon Grigg and Tony Pople wrote the official Environment Australia document 'Commercial Harvesting of Kangaroos in Australia' 'Harvesting will invariably involve some injuries and protracted deaths" and "To harvest a sustained yield from a population at steady density, it must first be manipulated in some way to promote the rate of increase (e.g.) reduce it below its ecological carrying capacity or supplement its resources)"
  

• RATES OF HARVEST MAY BE RAISED TO LEVELS AT WHICH THEY CAN CAUSE THE EXTINCTION OF THE POPULATION (Arguments will be confounded when there are non-consumptive values attached to the resource such as for tourism.)... originally written in 1992 and revised in 1997

"The Wild Harvest and Marketing of Kangaroos: A Case Study of the Profitability of Kangaroos Compared With Sheep / Beef in Queensland" (1996) by J.R. Hardman, Principal Agricultural Economist with the Queensland Department of Natural Resources concluded: "SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF LAND DEGRADATION WILL REQUIRE OTHER METHODS AND APPROACHES. IN SUMMARY, IT IS MOST UNLIKELY TO BE DONE BY REPLACING SHEEP/BEEF WITH KANGAROO HARVESTING."

• Head of Australian Museum ,Sydney NSW, Professor Michael Archer, quote : "You can get filthy stinking rich killing kangaroos" ..."part of our objective is to identify any kind of resource that can be economically valuable, that can be harvested sustainable, that will provide a revenue... it even goes to koalas" unquote.
• "Evaluating Alternative Management Strategies for Kangaroos in the Murray -Darling Basin" NSW Agriculture Stakeholder, CSIRO's David Freudenberger attending as a Pastoralist (perceived conflict of interest in his role also as CSIRO Wildlife & Ecology), Ron Hacker, Department of Agriculture, Chair:..."...we should look at what the various interest groups considered their ideal kangaroo population should look like, or what they could least tolerate."

The RURAL Industries and Development Corporation gives huge sums of money to subsidise the kangaroo and other wildlife industries and again came to the rescue of John Kelly (Kangaroo Industries Association) by providing funds contributed jointly by Industry and the Federal Government. Minister for Agriculture Warren Truss and Michael Archer, Head of the Australian Museum launched the project at a cocktail party in Parliament House, Canberra October 18th, 1999.

The latest to utilise wildlife and other 'resources' is called: " Inquiry to Examine ACCESS to Biological Resources on Commonwealth land (areas) ". This inquiry will address the OWNERSHIP of biological resources and the terms on which access to such resources should be granted.

The spectre of overexploitation stalks the kangaroos once again as our Wildlife Authorities enforce their policy of providing an economic benefit to all Australians by killing kangaroos. Over the ensuing years, the unjustified slaughter of kangaroos has continued with the Australian State and Federal governments' bureaucrats and scientists lobbying the U.S. government to de-list kangaroos from the U.S. Threatened Species List where they had some semblance of protection, but effective on April 10, 1995, kangaroos were removed from U.S. protection. 

Without U.S. protection and under pressure from both agricultural, business lobbies and farmers seeking to eek out an income from land degraded by overgrazing of sheep and cattle, Australian governments and wildlife managers now want access to all of our biological resources for commercial purposes. "Harvesting kangaroos as a resource" means suffering, death and their eventual disappearance from much of the Australian landscape.

If you care about kangaroos, you will not buy kangaroo products. If you care about kangaroos you will not eat kangaroo meat. If you care about kangaroos you will work for the non-consumptive uses of kangaroos such as Tourism and Retirism...

PLEASE WRITE TO:

• Minister for the Environment Dr David Kemp ,
  Parliament House,
  Canberra ACT 2600
• Premier of Queensland Peter Beattie,
  Parliament House,
  Brisbane 4000
• Premier Bob Carr,
  Level 39 , 1 Farrer Place,
  Sydney NSW 2000