Wombat Cull

In reply to the Hon. T.A. FRANKS (4 March 2020).

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer): The Premier has provided the following advice:

The land on which the wombats the subject of the question are established is owned by the Aboriginal Lands Trust and sub-leased for farming purposes to provide an income and employment to the Point Pearce Aboriginal Community.

The Aboriginal Lands Trust has informed me that original research on the presence of wombats was undertaken in 2011 by Shimmin Environmental Consultants with funding from the Northern and Yorke Natural Resources Management Board. The research identified 1,200 warrens on the land with an estimated three wombats per warren.

The trust has further advised that more recent evaluation of wombat numbers, including by drone surveys, has shown that in some instances, the number of wombats per warren far exceeds the previous understanding of their numbers. In some cases, up to eight wombats per warren were identified.