The duck hunting season at a Victorian game reserve is finishing early this year to make way for the planned release of captive-bred orange-bellied parrots, which has been welcomed by animal rights activists.
The Victorian government will shut the Lake Connewarre reserve near Geelong on Friday, 11 days before the duck hunting season comes to an end, so the release of the orange-bellied parrots can be timed to coincide with the arrival of their wild migrating counterparts.
The decision was confirmed via a government gazette notice on Tuesday, jointly issued by the ministers for agriculture, environment and outdoor recreation – Gayle Tierney, Ingrid Stitt and Sonya Kilkenny.
Animal Justice party MP, Georgie Purcell, had advocated for Lake Connewarre’s closure since the Game Management Authority decided not to open Andersons Inlet, in south Gippsland for the duration of the hunting season for the same reason.
“We have no faith in shooters being able to properly identify birds or choosing to shoot any bird they like,” Purcell said.
“It would be absolutely catastrophic if they shot one of these birds, when there are very few left in the wild.”
The decision, however, has angered the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party, who said the ducking hunting season had already been shortened to five weeks, with several restrictions including bag limit of four birds a day.
“I’m sure they can wait a week to release these parrots and still have success in their program,” the party’s vice-chair, Ben Collyer, said.
The critically endangered bird’s wild population was as low as 15 in 2016. It breeds in the Tasmanian wilderness before migrating to Victoria in late autumn.
Victoria’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action is leading a four-year breed-and-release program, with partners including Australian National University, Zoos Victoria and Birdlife Australia, to save the species.
But Collyer argued the parrot had been released at similar times in the past without affecting the hunting season.
“Connewarre was saved by hunters decades ago and is still managed by hunters,” he said.
“This government is taking advantage of hunters’ efforts by stabbing them in the back and closing the reserve.”
The party’s MP for Eastern Victoria, Jeff Bourman, called the decision an abuse of power by the state government.
“Given the politicised nature of this year’s season I smell dirty political interference,” Bourman said.
In February, the Andrews government announced a shortened season and a parliamentary inquiry to examine the future of duck hunting, of which both Bourman and Purcell are members.
It is set to hold public hearings on 26 May, before handing down a report by 31 August.
The inquiry comes after increasing pressure on the government from environmentalists and activists, who are pushing for a ban due to animal welfare and sustainability concerns, particularly after the 2019 bushfires decimated wildlife numbers.
Hundreds of hunters have argued in submissions to the inquiry that they have a right to continue what they view as a cultural tradition.
