Game Animal Council (Herds of Special Interest) Amendment Bill

Key Points to consider for your submission on the Game Animal Council (Herds of Special Interest) Amendment Bill

Why is your submission important?

The Game Animal Council (GAC) Act (2013) was put in place to represent the views of the Hunting Sector and recognises game animals as a valued introduced animal. Without the Game Animal Council Act, game animal values are not recognized and instead of being sustainably managed they will only be managed for control, eradication, and extermination where possible, under Conservation Legislation like the National Parks Act. It is important that hunters have their voices heard on the GAC Amendment Act, in order to retain a strong voice and statutory representation.

One of the key functions of the Game Animal Council is the establishment of Herds of Special Interest, a legal tool that enables management of high valued game animals for hunting and conservation outcomes. However, under the National Parks Act Section 4 2 (b) states that  introduced animals which include game animals are to be exterminated as far as possible. This creates inconsistency in the legal frameworks. The GAC Amendment Bill seeks to clarify that the National Parks Act’s requirement to exterminate introduced species ‘as far as possible’ within national parks does not apply to game animals that are designated as Herds of Special Interest (HOSI). 

Public submissions are an important part of the progress of the Bill and will help inform Parliament of the support for it, any changes that should be made, and whether or not it should become law

Suggested submission

1. Briefly introduce yourself or your organisation and your interest or expertise (e.g., conservation, hunting, tourism).
2. State your general position in support of the Bill.

Provide comments on how the Bill could be improved

3. The Game Animal Council is the only statutory organisation that truly empowers hunters and advocates on our behalf (ie. is our actual voice), it recognises game animals as a valued introduced species and enables hunter led management. I/we submit that GAC be given a full set of teeth and be fully empowered to do their intended job. I/we submit that the GAC:
   • is made independent of the Department of Conservation, 
   • that it has increased funding including independent income streams which could be created by picking up the hunting based functions of DOC such as ballots, concessions, and WARO; and
   • has the function of implementing HOSI, without needing delegated authority from the Minister first.

Provide comment on why you support the Bill:

4. Why game animals in national parks are important to you.

• Explain the importance of your recreational hunting experiences in national parks and how they provide you with a means to engage with the natural environment and New Zealand’s backcountry. This may include their importance to you, your family, or/and your community;

5. Why HOSI in national parks can provide a better hunting experience.

• Well-managed game animals will exist in a high-quality, low quantity herd that produces fewer but more highly-sought-after animals, particularly trophy-class males.
• The herd will live in a healthy habitat that benefits from the low-density of game animals and where native species can also thrive.  

6. Why HOSI in national parks can enable better conservation outcomes.

• Hunter-led game animal management programmes deliver conservation benefits by actively managing browsing pressure through continual herd and vegetation monitoring, maintaining low animal numbers, and helping to protect native species.
• HOSI can enable greater community involvement in conservation in national parks, such as predator control initiatives that don’t cost the taxpayer.
• HOSI will be subject to detailed herd management plans that include the protection of native species.

7. Why community-led conservation is necessary to help manage our national parks.

• Limitations and pressures on DOC’s budget means that if we want better conservation outcomes then we need to more actively involve community interests, including hunters and hunter-led organisations.
• For little-to-no cost to the taxpayer, these organisations can help achieve win-win scenarios in our national parks – lower numbers of higher quality game animals and a healthier environment.

8. Seek the following:
   • support this bill to amend the National Parks Act, so that HOSI’s are exempt from its extermination policy 
   • recommend an amendment to the Game Animal Council Act section 19 (4) so that Herd Management plans ‘have regard’ to rather than ‘be consistent with’ all those overriding considerations and other acts.
   • Seek that the Minister gazette HOSI’s without first needing Herd Management Plans to be approved
9. Thank the Committee for the opportunity to submit.

For an example of how a HOSI in a national park could work in practice, you can refer to the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation’s work, including:

• The annual ballot providing hunters with a world-class hunting experience during the wapiti bugle.
• Management operations funded through the proceeds of the ballot and other sources that removes on average over a 1000 red, hybrid, female and lower quality Wapiti from the Wapiti area annually.
• Wapiti herd numbers maintained at a level that enables and promotes the regeneration of browsed indigenous plants.
• A major predator-trapping initiative run at no cost to the taxpayer across remote Fiordland valleys to control stoats and rats, and support species like kiwi, who and kea.