Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia, the Hon David Littleproud MP
Minister for the Environment, the Hon Sussan Ley MP
Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia David Littleproud and Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said landscape-scale, coordinated action is critical to manage the scourge of pest animals.
“This is why the Australian Government is providing $837,500 to extend national wild dog, feral deer and feral cat and fox management coordinator programs to the end of June 2023,” said Minister Littleproud.
Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia David Littleproud said the funding will continue to drive momentum to slow the spread of feral animals across Australia and consolidate the previous work of our pest animal management coordinators.
“Pest animals are a significant social, economic and environmental burden for Australia, negatively impacting on our agricultural productivity as well as native wildlife and public health,” Minister Littleproud said.
“National coordinators for feral pests have delivered improvements to the coordination and best practice management of invasive pest animal species, reducing associated costs for our communities, the environment and the agricultural sector.
“This funding – the first stage of a $6.27 million commitment to extend national coordinator programs – will ensure the continued alignment of on ground action with national priorities and promote best practice landscape-scale pest animal management across Australia.”
Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said national coordinators help lead the fight against feral pests by supporting and coordinating action by farmers, natural resource management groups, Indigenous groups, and environmental non-government organisations.
“Feral predators and Pests take an enormous toll on our native wildlife and threatened species with – feral cats alone killing an estimated 265 million birds, 466 million reptiles, and 815 million mammals every year,” Minister Ley said.
“This extension of the national coordinator programs, particularly the feral cat and fox coordinators that I established after the bushfires, will work with land managers to raise awareness of the importance of feral animal management tand enhance their ability to reduce numbers and contain threats.”
