November 24, 2022
Katter’s Australian Party MPs have launched an appeal to both the Queensland and Federal Governments for a $20 million annual commitment to go towards a feral pig eradication fund in response to the growing threats posed by the five million-plus wild pigs in North and Far North Queensland.
The call comes as the Queensland Parliament prepares to debate, possibly next week, the banning of the highly-effective and widely-used yellow phosphorous pig poison (better known as CSSP).
KAP Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter confirmed he would push for a two-year delay to the ban, as well as demand additional multi-million funding for proactive control methods such as aerial shooting, bounty pig-hunting programs and boar-busting traps.
The party is also lobbying for cost-free access for pig hunters to the State’s national parks and protected areas, the geographic footprint of which has grown to 14.2 million hectares.
Mr Katter said the State Government was fooling itself if it thought Queensland’s natural environment needed more protection from people than it did from pest species like feral pigs, which prey on native animals, damage natural habitats and cause widespread erosion.
Research has also found wild pigs could be responsible for emitting up to 4.9 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually across the globe, which is the equivalent of 1.1 million cars.[1]
“Targeting the feral pig problem that is worsening by the day is not particularly politically attractive for the inner-city focused governments of Brisbane and Canberra, but it is absolutely crucial from an environmental and biosecurity perspective,” Mr Katter said.
“The problems posed by feral pigs are widely documented, and in recent months the urgency associated with addressing them has only grown.
“Widespread outbreaks of Foot and Mouth disease and Lumpy Skin disease in south-east Asia, as well as the local risk posed by Japanese encephalitis[2], have sent biosecurity alarm bells ringing across the country.
“Being geographically close to the epicentre of the south-east Asian threats and also being almost totally uncontrolled, the feral pig populations in the North stand to be the greatest possible vectors of local outbreaks.
“Instead of actively seeking to reduce the ability of landholders to deal with feral pigs through the CSSP ban, the State Government should be rolling out an emergency plan to get on top of the problem that has been ignored for so long.
“This ill-thought ban couldn’t come at a worse time, and will do far more harm than good to Queensland – we need it delayed and a properly-funded feral pig management plan set up immediately.”
[1] https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2021/07/climate-impact-of-wild-pigs-greater-million-cars
[2] https://www.9news.com.au/national/japanese-encephalitis-warning-as-mosquito-numbers-balloon/e7bf4ffb-ea5e-4813-93be-77a3839a3911
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20221124 - RK media release - Katter calls for cash to address pig problems