Farmers should be allowed to eradicate wild deer from their land with fewer regulator controls, according to the latest national inquiry looking at invasive animals.
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A Senate Committee looked at the impact of feral deer, pigs and goats in Australia and has released a set of national priorities to prevent the degradation of natural and farming environments, calling on states to change their laws and seriously commit to eradicating deer.
Several key recommendations dealing with wild deer have been welcomed by farmers and recreational shooters.
These include the recommendations to "maximise the ability of landholders to control feral deer on their land", eliminate feral deer populations in national parks and World Heritage Areas, and implement laws that support the commercial harvesting of wild deer.
Primary Industries minister Guy Barnett's spokesman would not be drawn on whether the minister would remove current legislative protections on wild deer but said that the government would maintain a sensible balance between managing deer on private and public lands, and retaining a deer herd as a traditional hunting resource.
He said the draft Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan for Tasmania should be released for public comment later this year.
"The Plan will set management objectives and the control techniques for managing wild fallow deer in areas including the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, conservation areas, agricultural production land, peri-urban areas and satellite populations."
Shooters Union Tasmania president Alistair Shephard said opening up Crown lands for feral deer hunting could bring significant economic benefits to the state.
"Hunters and their families would come from across Tasmania and even interstate to hunt in our unique landscape, bringing tourist dollars with them and greatly boosting the economies of regional Tasmania in the process," he said.
"By introducing a modest access fee or biodiversity management fee to hunt in state forests and Crown lands in the state, the Government could make a tidy income and keep feral animals under control in Tasmania at the same time."