There
are some interesting goings on at Pukapunyal Army Base. We
have an eyewitness, who naturally won't be named, who saw
soldiers at Pukapunyal golf course, shooting kangaroos with
crossbows, and then bludgeoning them to death. A tractor had
to be called in to remove the bodies, and hide the bloodstains.
We have also heard some soldiers have been issued with rifle
silencers, night vision goggles and headsets with walkie talkies.
Its fairly obvious what is happening, they are using the kangaroos
for night operations firearm practice.
There is still livestock on the Base, including sheep horses
and cattle. Phalaris (an introduced pasture legume) has been
planted to provide feed for the livestock, and it is poisonous
to kangaroos, giving them the "staggers".
Apparently most of the cattle on the base belong to the family
of Danna Vale, who coincidentally happens to be the Minister
Assisting the Minister for Defence! Also, remember the local
member, Fran Bailey, who worked really hard to get a commercial
kangaroo kill going based on the Puka kangaroos? She is the
Parliamentary Defence Secretary!
The local farmer, Ray Crawley, who made such a fuss about
the kangaroos eating him out of house and home, is also the
head of the local waterwatch group. He owns a huge well-grassed
property not far from the Base.
I've sent an urgent fax to Cosgrove, Senator Hill, and the
Secretary of Defence, but dont hold any hope they will do
anything. The politics of it all are a good example of how
some politicains are really good at working the system to
look after each other, and their mates, and protect each other
at the same time.
One of the problems is that ADF land is Commonwealth land,
and the Commonwealth are not answerable to State law, so we
can't appeal to the Brack Victorian State government.
The ADF have set up a "committee" to look at the
management of kangaroos. Animals Australia are on it, so is
the RSPCA, who have made some quite amazing statements in
the media. Like all of these so-called consultative committees,
the agendas are set in advance by the bureaucrats who set
them up. Members are gagged, discussion is gagged, and nothing
really happens except the bureacrats, and their personal and
political agendas, always win the day. Good luck Glenys!
Okay, so the National Kangaroo Protection Coalition is holding
a peaceful protest action at Pukapunyal, to try to bring some
of these issues out into the open. It will be at 11 am outside
the main gate, on Friday the 25th of July. We have picked
a week day to maximise media exposure, so we understand if
some people cant attend. Having said that, we'd like as many
people there as possible.
'Country
News' June 30, 2003
Australia's
main animal welfare body is threatening legal action against
the Defence Department for failing to manage the kangaroo
population on a Victorian army base. The department last week
announced licensed shooters would kill 6500 eastern grey kangaroos
at the Puckapunyal military training base, 100 km north of
Melbourne, by the end of August. Culling was sanctioned when
it was decided the kangaroos, which are trapped inside the
42,000 ha base by a 1.8 m electric fence, were over breeding
and faced mass starvation. But RSPCA national president Hugh
Wirth said the association believed the Defence Department
was in breach of the Victorian Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Act. I have asked the RSPCA CEO to direct the chief inspector
to have a look at the situation, because my view is that unless
these people are prosecuted nothing is going to be done,"
Dr Wirth said. Dr Wirth said that under Victorian law, humans
must assume responsibility for the welfare of any animal -
domestic or wild - which is kept in a confined space. He said
the 36,000 kangaroos at Puckapunyal were subject to this law
because they were confined to the army base by the perimeter
fence. " The Defence Department has known for over four
years that kangaroos have been starving due to the drought
and they did nothing about them," he said. " The
Defence Department and the Victorian Department of Environment
and Sustainability failed to appreciate what their legal position
was." Dr Wirth said there was now less than 250 kg of
fodder / hectare at the denuded army base, which would sustain
fewer than 6000 of the remaining kangaroos. He said any kangaroos
which was suffering should be immediately put out of its misery.
However, he condemned the Defence Department for mismanaging
the kangaroo population until a 'wholesale ' slaughter was
the only solution. " If the Defence Department had done
what the RSPCA asked three or four years ago, which was a
systematic cull of those animals deemed to be suffering, this
would not be necessary." Dr. Wirth said as many as 30,000
kangaroos could need to be killed to keep numbers within sustainable
limits. End * (As I said earlier, the RSPCA have made some
amazing statements! I suspect that Dr Wirth will find that
Victorian law will not apply to ADF land, which is owned by
the Commonwealth.)
Kangamail
9/7/03
Pat
O'Brien, President
Wildlife Protection Assn. of Australia
Coordinator, National Kangaroo Protection Coalition
PO Box 309, Beerwah, Qld. 4703
Ph 07 54941890, mob. 0408 711344
pat@wildlifeprotectaust.org.au
