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KAP MOVES TO ATTACK FERAL PIGS
December 12, 2025
Katter’s Australian Party MP for Hill, Shane Knuth, has confirmed the party is in the consultancy stage to draft a Private Member’s Bill, to introduce regulated recreational hunting in Queensland State Forests, modelled on the highly successful NSW public land hunting system.
The KAP Bill will also explore staged access to National Parks, noting the stricter regulatory pathway required.
Mr Knuth said Queensland can no longer ignore decades of proven evidence from NSW that regulated public land hunting is safe, economically transformative and an effective feral pest management tool.
Mr Knuth cited the 2022 NSW Department of Primary Industries report, which found that hunting generated $509 million for the NSW economy in a single year, created 4,192 full-time equivalent jobs and delivered funding and tourism boosts almost entirely into regional communities
“The economic benefits and jobs that would be generated would pay back any cost in setting up a licencing system 1000 times over,” Mr Knuth said.
“Regulated public land hunting is not dangerous, it does not pose a public safety risk, and it delivers enormous benefits both economically and environmentally.
The only thing stopping Queensland from accessing these benefits is Government inaction.”
Knuth said most of Queensland's protected areas, including National Parks and State Forests, which cover over 15 million hectares, have become breeding grounds for feral pigs due to chronic neglect by governments.
“Landholders are doing everything they can, but government-controlled land is undermining all their work. Pigs pour out of parks and forests like a tidal wave, destroying crops, fences, waterways and native wildlife,” Mr Knuth said.
Knuth said the Governments latest announcement of $10million towards feral pest management would barely scratch the surface of the problem.
“The cost to agriculture alone exceeds $50 million annually, with environmental damage far worse.
We are facing one of the largest unmanaged pest animal catastrophes in the country’s history and we need a coordinated multi-layer approach to the problem.”
Knuth referenced a 2020 study by Australia Pork, part of the Federal Government’s Feral Pig Action Plan, which revealed the shocking scale of the problem.
Study coordinator Dr. Heather Channon found that 70% of feral pigs need to be culled annually to prevent the population from growing.
Dr Channon also concluded that if culling of feral pigs stopped there would be an increase of up to 85% in the feral pig population each year.
Research from the University of Queensland in 2021 also found that feral pigs uproot carbon-rich soil at a scale equivalent to emissions from 1.1 million cars per year.
“With two litters a year and up to ten piglets per litter, we likely have more pigs than people in Australia. It’s a ticking time bomb for our environment and agriculture industry,” said Knuth
Knuth said the KAP’s Bill would include:
· A Queensland Game Hunting Licence for State Forests
· Mandatory booking, mapping and written permission system
· Safety, firearm and environmental compliance standards
· Clear restricted access zones
· Consideration of National Park inclusion
“NSW has had this system for over 20 years. They have had zero public safety incidents and hundreds of millions in economic return.
Meanwhile, Queensland is stuck in a broken model that fails farmers, fails the environment, and fails regional communities.”
“It is absurd that Queensland is turning away and not even considering a proven, safe, self-funding solution while our feral pig numbers explode,” Mr Knuth said.
“Recreational hunters, who adhere to strict standards and already contribute to regional economies are being shut out of land that desperately needs management.”
This is a no-brainer and the KAP is stepping up where successive state governments have failed regional communities.”