Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-06-05 Daily Xml

Contents

Kangaroo Management

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:53): Supplementary: what is the amount of the incentive being paid for these field harvesters?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:53): You mean the daily amount that I referred to?

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: I don't know how you are calculating it—so a daily amount or per head?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: I mentioned the amount that was per kangaroo, so $5 for commercially harvested kangaroos and $7 for non-commercially harvested—so, if you like, those where animal welfare is the driving reason for their harvesting. In addition to that, there is a daily incentive that I referred to and that is being scaled depending on the level of kangaroo numbers compared to the amount of harvesting that would normally occur.

I think it's also worth mentioning the reasons why we have such high numbers at the moment. We have had successive good seasons until recently. The subsequent drought conditions mean that there are high numbers of kangaroos, and they are now starving as well as causing severe impacts on crops, on pasture and, indeed, on native vegetation as well.

It is quite difficult to comprehend the scale of the mass mortality events that happen when droughts follow successive good seasons. Across drought-impacted parts of South Australia, it's commonplace to see thousands of kangaroos laying dead alongside dried-up dams and to see emaciated kangaroos nearby. I think this is an important program because it addresses those dual challenges, both of the impacts on farmers as well as the impacts on animal welfare.