The following residents of the ACT draw the attention of the Assembly to recommendations that could introduce killing of local Bare-Nosed Wombats in the ACT as a land management practice that would be unmonitored and result in unacceptable animal welfare outcomes.
A draft technical report titled Managing Wombats proposes options including reclassifying wombats as a Controlled Native Species, if adopted, this proposal would allow the killing of wombats. This shift is proposed despite the draft report acknowledging there are no reliable population estimates of wombats, no systems for reporting or verifying leaseholder complaints, and that it relies on anecdotal input from only three out of 381 rural leaseholders.
If wombats are declared a Controlled Native Species, a public servant can authorise leaseholders to shoot wombats without any transparency or scrutiny of the decision-making process. Once authorised, killing on rural properties cannot be monitored and creates serious animal welfare risks, including wounding rather than instant death and the orphaning of dependent young.
Such harm is incompatible with the ACT’s legislated recognition of animal sentience and its commitment to deterring and preventing animal cruelty and the abuse and neglect of animals.
Your petitioners, therefore, request the Assembly to call on the Act Government to:
- Rule out the declaration of Bare-Nosed Wombats as a Controlled Native Species and reject any policy promoting the killing of wombats by landholders.
- Require that all wombat-related policies use non-lethal, evidence-based coexistence strategies and provide leaseholders with the support needed to implement them.
- Ensure all wombat-related policies uphold the ACT's legislated recognition that animals are sentient beings with intrinsic value and deserve to be treated with compassion and have a quality of life that reflects their intrinsic value.