The consultation process as part of a periodic review of legislation containing crop protection permits has been questioned ahead of the release of an upcoming draft.
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Crop protections permits - those which allow the culling of animals in Tasmania - fall under Wildlife Regulations (2010) and are set to be updated this year.
According to the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment website, a draft of the legislation was set to be released for public comment "in the first part of 2021".
It was originally due to expire on November 30, 2020 but was extended to November 30 this year due to an emergency COVID-19 Act.
The department's website said it was anticipated the "review and remaking [would] be complete by mid-2021".
However, concerns have been raised by wildlife advocates about the consultative process. "[Applications are] a tick and flick exercise," BirdLife Tasmania convener Dr Eric Woehler OAM said.
As part of the already completed regulation review the department was set to engage with industry experts and advocacy groups to seek their advice, but Dr Woehler said he had not received any correspondence since December and what he did receive was not substantial.
Tasmanian Conservation Trust chief executive Peter McGlone said the organisation had made a submission ahead of the draft legislation but had not heard back from the department since December last year and had not heard anything back about the submission.
Mr McGlone expressed concern about not only the initial consultation process, but how the current delay in drafting legislation would be reflected in the new Wildlife Regulations.
"When the department jams up a consultation period and makes it a narrow window of time you know they're just not going to change anything."
- Tasmanian Conservation Trust chief executive Peter McGlone
"They do the absolute minimum level of engagement about things that are of the absolute maximum level of concern to the community."
Mr McGlone said the entire process spoke to a veil of secrecy shrouding DPIPWE and its wildlife management and evaluation processes.
A spokesperson for the department said about 275 individuals and interest groups were contacted directly during the initial consultation process.
"The whole community [was also] afforded the opportunity to provide input during the initial consultation process," they said.
A Right To Information request by The Examiner received earlier this month showed golf clubs in Tasmania currently held 22 crop protection permits and that clubs had culled over 5000 animals in the past five years.
Once the draft regulations have been released they will be open for public comment.
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