Responsibility for managing game animals on conservation land must stay with the Department of Conservation, not hunters, Labour conservation spokesperson Priyanca Radhakrishnan says.

“Hunters will continue to play a valuable role in keeping numbers down,” Radhakrishnan says.

She says the coalition is responsible for gaps in DOC’s work.

“They’ve had over $100 million stripped from them in this term of government alone.”

Labour has yet to release its conservation policy for the 2026 election.

“We need to do much better when it comes to protecting our native ecosystems.”

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