Nicole McKee, ACT deputy leader and Associate Justice Minister, says the Department of Conservation is failing to manage game animals, and hunters should be empowered to do the job.

“The Department of Conservation are failing the country when it comes to the management of game animals,” she says.

McKee rejects Federated Farmers’ concern that hunters would let deer numbers rise.

“I encourage Federated Farmers to read the policy a bit more clearly.”

She says the Game Animal Council was set up as a statutory body but was never given the teeth or funding to act, and the policy would target public land, easing pressure on farmland.

“It’s managing them, not exterminating them.”

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