http://www.ssaansw.org.au/inde...es/502-rumour-has-it

There’s current speculation about the introduction of a general hunting licence for all feral animals on private land.

SSAA NSW strongly opposes the introduction of more red tape and yet more burden on recreational hunters.

In fact, we are on public record supporting the removal of the G Licence, which is required to hunt deer on private property. Our members were frustrated and dissatisfied with the introduction of this as part of the Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002. The Act forced them to pay an additional fee for a licence that required no training, no membership of an AHO and was therefore seen as simply revenue raising by the then Game Council.

SSAA NSW supports the retention of the R-Licence model which has been successfully used to manage pest animals in declared state forests and crown land throughout NSW for many years. We commend the education initiatives of the DPI Game Licensing Unit (GLU). SSAA NSW is an Approved Hunting Organisation (AHO), a Hunter LEAP Provider and has long been an advocate for this model and the GLU.

When the concept of the ‘Game Council’ was originally introduced in the late 90s, the proposed licensing system required that all hunters of feral and game animals be licensed with the fees being used to fund conservations projects. SSAA NSW and a number of other hunting organisations strongly opposed this at the time, and the licensing system was modified.

As the biggest hunting organisation in the State with more than 58,000 members, SSAA NSW will continue to oppose further imposition of red tape and unnecessary restrictions on recreational hunters and all licensed firearms owners.

Victoria,there are 18 MILLION acres of public land for deer hunting,at a cost of under $50 a year for as many as you can shoot..sensible stuff.
Our State Gov stats show that we deer hunters are putting $500 million into the economy yearly,why make it any harder I ask!
And we remove 100,000 pest deer annually,that they know of!
Its about time NSW looked at the successful plan in Vic.

Sounds typical to me.
When things are working well for long enough time.
Someone's got to FIX it til it's totally fk'd up.
Don't matter it's over there, or here. Thats the way things work.

George

When I was a young bloke you needed no shooters licence, no fishing licence, and no hunting licence. No licences for anything much, save for driving on the public roads.

I would start out from the view that the only licence which should be required for hunting on private land is the permission of the landowner, but if the fees could be applied to things which are of benefit for hunters, then it'd be worth considering whether the benefits outweigh the costs, including the further encroaching of the nanny state into our lives.

FWIW I have an R licence, and it is pretty clear that the fees go towards managing the system, including provision of maps, on-line booking, reports of animals taken etc, as well as rangers to reduce the incidence of poaching, among other things. There's also the fact that it is a small cost in return for access to vast areas of land.

I also have a NSW fishing licence, and there the fees go towards such things as stocking rivers, installing artificial reefs, training days and other things which are of direct benefit. I don't particularly like having to have a licence, on principle, but I can see direct benefit.

The same would have to apply for an extension of licences to hunting on private land. Unless there's a good direct benefit I think that it would be a hard thing to sell though.