Major vote could spell the end of Snowy Mountain brumbies

A landmark bill that could potentially pave the way for the removal of brumbies in the NSW Snowy Mountains could become law within days.

The NSW upper house is set to continue debate next week on a proposal to remove authority for feral horse populations in Kosciuszko National Park.

According to the management plan, 3000 wild horses will be kept in 32 percent of the park in order to protect the “heritage value”.

If the bill passes, this plan will be phased out by 2027 and the feral horse advisory panel will also be scrapped, paving the way for a new program that could achieve the complete elimination of horses.

Activists have long condemned the harmful impact of introduced horses on the fragile Alpine ecosystem and said no horse is sustainable.

Campaigns and petitions have aimed to repeal existing measures called former Deputy Prime Minister John Barilaro’s 2018 Brumby Bill.

Invasive Species Council volunteer Linda Groom has been involved in the campaign to repeal the Brumby Bill for eight years and said she was “happy and concerned”.

“It’s been too long and this last part seems to be moving very slowly,” he said.

Independent Wagga Wagga MP Dr. Joe McGirr first introduced legislation to remove the Brumby Bill to the upper house in June.

Passing the lower house, the bill received the support of Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, ensuring its success there before returning to the upper house.

“Are you thinking, ‘Oh, is something going to go wrong at the last minute?'” Miss Groom said.

“The debate appears to have spread far enough (and) enough politicians have seen evidence that they are now willing to vote for repeal (of the Brumby Bill).”

Ms Groom was a keen bushwalker before joining the campaign.

“I had seen horses damaged in the highlands, but I didn’t think much about it,” he said.

The Brumby Bill was then introduced.

“I thought it was a very bad law. I had to do something,” he said.

Miss Groom organized a protest march from Sydney to the top of Kosciuszko.

Since then, he has organized three petition campaigns and during these campaigns, he chatted with people one-on-one about the wild horses in the park.

“Sometimes they don’t sign, but they walk away thinking, ‘I didn’t sign, but this person didn’t have two heads. He wasn’t someone pounding the table. He was a reasonable person.'”

When asked how she would feel when the bill became law, Ms Groom said she would be “incredibly happy”.

“There’s still work to be done to create a new plan, but at least it’ll be on the right track. I’ll be excited,” he said.

Campaigners and environmental managers have long highlighted the damage caused by brumbs to the delicate alpine ecosystem of the Snowy Mountains.

The ecosystem, which the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service revealed with new images in May, was slowly starting to recover due to the decline in wild horse numbers.

Jack Gough, chief executive of the Invasive Species Council, said the movement to reform the bill had “united people from all corners of the state and all walks of politics”.

“Once the facts emerged, almost all MPs agreed that protecting a wild species over endangered wildlife was untenable,” he said.

“This has been an incredible example of what is possible when we find common ground.

“The courage shown by MPs from different parties shows that caring for nature is not partisanship, it is a common responsibility.”

Mr Gough said the bill would set a precedent if passed.

“Not just in terms of how we manage feral horses, but also how we approach all invasive species,” he said.

“This will be living proof that with courage, collaboration and compassion, we can overcome our nation’s toughest environmental challenges.”

Discussions about Brumbies, their history in Australia and how to deal with them are controversial.

Horses first arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788.

Newspaper reports recorded references to wild horses or wild horses as pests in NSW and Queensland throughout the 1800s.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported in 1843: “Wild cattle and horses are becoming great pests in the interior of NSW.”

But horses also captured the popular imagination of the settler culture of the period.

In 1895, the famous Australian poet Banjo Paterson wrote Brumby’s Run.

“They are a wild, untouched community. All shapes and forms. They head out under the moon and star. Across the plains to feed,” he wrote.

In 1944, Kosciuszko was declared a state park before becoming a national park in 1967.

By the 2000s, debate began about the use of aerial fire, which, although one of many methods of control, is the most controversial.

After wild horse populations dropped to 1000 in 2003, the government of the time canceled this measure in 2008.

Eight years later, the government-appointed independent Technical Reference Group found aerial culling to be one of the most humane methods.

Mr. Barilaro introduced the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act in 2018; This law led to an order to reduce the number of wild horses to 3000 by 2027, while also recognizing their so-called heritage value.

The law set off a years-long campaign to repeal it, including challenging the constitution and petitions that garnered tens of thousands of signatures.

Despite its popularity, the campaign is not without its opponents.

In September, an electronic petition opposing an earlier petition to repeal the Brumby Bill reached 5,475 signatures.

The pushback peaked in 2022, when National Park staff overseeing aerial culls received threats.

There is no suggestion that anyone in the petition is linked to the threats.