Tuesday, 31 October 2023

 Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (17:23): (545) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Environment in the other place. Brumbies are held in a fond place in the heart of many Victorians. Their contribution to World War II goes straight to the core of our identity. Their majestic nature and their presence in our forests and High Country have long been heralded in songs, prose and stories. They are a part of our landscape. I find it therefore unfathomable that they continue to be brutally slaughtered in the Barmah state forest. There are deeply compassionate volunteers willing and able to go into the forest and rehome these beautiful animals, yet the government is still allowing them to be shot from both ground and air, leaving them to suffer in indescribable pain. These are complex social creatures that should be spared from these indiscriminate culling practices. I call on the minister to pause the culling of the brumbies and to liaise with the communities who are so willing to rescue these last remaining brumbies from state forests.