Fed: Pest animal inquiry resumes

AAP General News (Australia)
02-01-2005
Fed: Pest animal inquiry resumes

CANBERRA, Feb 1 AAP - Pest animals could be costing the Australian economy more than
$720 million a year, a Liberal MP said today as a parliamentary inquiry into the animals'
impact on agriculture resumed.

The House of Representatives Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Committee has already
received more than 80 submissions on the scale of the problem and how it should be managed
at a federal level.

Committee chairman, Liberal MP Alby Schultz, said one estimate suggested introduced
vertebrate pests cost the Australian economy about $720 million a year.

"This figure only covers the economic costs and certain estimates of environmental
impact," Mr Schultz said.

"It does not include the high social and emotional costs placed upon landholders and
regional communities at the front line of the pest animal problem.

"The evidence received concerning the impact of pest animals indicates a wide range
of impacts by a broad range of species. In particular, the control of wild dogs is a critical
issue that must be urgently addressed in the areas affected."

The committee began its inquiry in March last year and held public hearings in Albury
on the NSW-Victorian border and in Canberra on the wild dog problem.

Further public hearings are expected to be scheduled when the committee meets next week.

Other pest animal problems raised in evidence to the committee include foxes, pigs,
cats, deer, horses, mice, goats and rabbits.

AAP rp/sb/lma/de

KEYWORD: PESTS

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