The wildlife Act: want to have a say?

As we noted a couple of weeks ago, the 1975 Wildlife Act is under review, and public responses are invited. FOBIF will be making a submission this week, but if you need to be motivated to have a go, check out this list of failings in the current act, from the VNPA:

• It protects exotic invasive species like deer as protected game animals despite the significant damage they do to wildlife habitats around the state.
• It allows wildlife to be declared as unprotected which, at one stage, had the perverse outcome of wombat shooting being promoted as a tourist attraction.
• It allows the for the destruction of a plethora of native wildlife through a highly non-transparent Authority to Control Wildlife permit system…
• It provides no direct protections for wildlife habitat under the legislation.
• It has weak penalties for those who commit an offence under the Act.
• It treats some native wildlife, such as ducks and native quails, as sport for recreational shooters.
• The Act is toothless when it comes to actually prosecuting illegal acts of harm to wildlife. We’ve seen appalling incidents of the illegal poisoning of Wedge-tailed Eagles and the bulldozing of koalas met with little to no penalties.

The VNPA also has some suggestions about what you might put into a submission: you can find them here.