Member for Benalla and Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Industries, Bill Sykes said today that the 2012 Victorian Hunting guide is now available online and thousands of copies are being mailed to Victoria’s 40,000 licensed hunters over the coming week, just in time for the start of the upcoming duck season.
“Victoria and many parts of the Benalla Electorate offer a diverse range of hunting opportunities from deer hunting in the alpine regions to duck hunting on selected wetlands. The Alpine National Park and Lake Eildon National Park, for example, allow hunting but subject to various conditions.
“The Victorian Government is committed to providing even better opportunities for licensed hunters to enjoy their recreation and to promote the growth of hunting businesses in regional areas across the state.
“The Coalition is encouraging more people to interact with the natural environment and to take advantage of the outstanding opportunities for hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities that we have to offer.
“However it is important that we work closely with the hunting community to achieve these outcomes, based on the sustainable management of our game species,” Dr Sykes said.
Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Peter Walsh said, “The Victorian Coalition Government produces the Hunting Guide each year to provide the hunting community with important information on game hunting laws, including open season dates and bag limits, hunter ethics and firearm safety.
“The free guide is an important link between the industry, hunting organisations and the government. It also provides information about the newly created Game Victoria, which is the body responsible for managing game hunting in the state.
“I urge all new and experienced hunters to familiarise themselves with the rules and regulations for the coming hunting seasons,” Mr Walsh said.
Dr Sykes concluded that it is important to ensure the sustainability and safety of game hunting in Victoria, but there are heavy financial penalties for those who do the wrong thing, as well as the possibility of losing game and firearms licenses and firearms.
The Hunting Guide will be sent free of charge to all licensed game hunters while a further 10,000 copies will be available at Department of Primary Industries (DPI) regional offices and an online version is available at www.dpi.vic.gov.au/game-hunting.
The 2012 duck season opens on 17 March and finishes on 11 June.
For further information on game hunting in Victoria contact the DPI customers service centre on 13 61 86

Legislation introduced into Parliament this week to reduce the risk to people from dangerous dogs has been welcomed by the Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes.
The Crimes and Domestic Animals Acts Amendment (Offences and Penalties) Bill 2011 is part of a number of measures being put in place by the Victorian Coalition Government to ensure that our streets are safe from dangerous dogs.
Speaking in Parliament on the Bill Dr Sykes said, “The Baillieu-Ryan Government has responded quickly to the tragic incident that occurred in September, when a little girl was killed. We have strong community support for what we are doing and we have put in place a logical set of measures.
“Firstly the Bill creates new indictable offences for failing to control a dangerous, menacing or restricted breed dog resulting in the death of a person or where it endangers the life of a person. There is an increase in the penalties to make it clear that these actions will not be tolerated in the future.
“There is also a requirement that restricted breed dogs wear an identifying collar. The Bill also prohibits the sale or transfer of restricted breed dogs to any person other than an immediate family member, and that is to occur only upon the death of the owner.”
Dr Sykes said the Government brought forward the closing date of the amnesty period for registration of dangerous dogs to 29 September 2011 but there were supposedly quite a few dogs not yet registered.
“The next phase is to identify these dogs. The establishment of the Dangerous Dog Hotline has already generated around 1400 calls with approximately 500 resulting in dogs being reported to relevant local government areas.”
Dr Sykes said there is a commitment that local government will be supported in administering the new legislation and the needs of local government will be assessed individually.
He said the identification of what constitutes a restricted breed dog will be supported by the Standard for Restricted Breed Dogs in Victoria to help identify pit bull terriers and their crosses.
“Part of this legislation is to ensure owners in charge of dangerous dogs are responsible if a dog commits an offence. If the dog is in the hands of another person, there is a requirement for a successful prosecution to demonstrate that that other person engaged in reckless conduct which meant that the dog was not under control and that conduct placed another person in danger of death.”
Dr Sykes highlighted the need for community support of the tough stance against dangerous dogs.
“There is a saying ‘you cannot legislate for cooperation’ and we will need members of the community to support the legislation by keeping their eyes open.”
Dr Sykes said the other important aspect of the legislation was by supporting it with an education component.
“It is the responsibility of all of us not only to have an understanding of dog behaviour but to teach those around us, particularly children.
“We will put in place all of these measures which will also be monitored and the Government will do what is needed to achieve the objective of making our streets as safe as possible.
“We have strong community support for what we are doing and I am sure we will reduce the risks to people and that they will be grateful for the efforts of the government.”
Dr Sykes concluded by noting that the Opposition is supporting the Bill and acknowledged the efforts of departmental staff and others involved in writing up the legislation at short notice.

It is 250 years since the first Veterinary School was established in Lyons, France.
Since that time the veterinary profession has contributed to the health and welfare of both productive and companion animals throughout the world.
In Australia veterinarians have been instrumental in the eradication of diseases such as contagious pleuro pneumonia, tuberculosis and brucellosis.
Veterinarians in Australia have also helped alleviate animals suffering in droughts, bushfires and floods.
These veterinarians have worked as part of a team including animal health officers, other government agency staff, livestock industry and individual livestock and pet owners.
Veterinarians who have made special contributions to animal health and well-being in Australia include Professor Ken Jubb, Professor Doug Blood, Professor Ivan Caple and Dan Flynn and Bryan Rushford.
I and my colleague, the Member for South West Coast are proud to have been associated with these outstanding veterinarians and we learnt much from them.
In Victoria, veterinary practitioners of the 50’s and 60’s such as Doug McAuliffe, Ernie Miles, Jim Howes, Don McFadden, Dusty Rhodes and Bob Knights were legendary for the long hours they spent assisting sick and injured livestock.
As a result their wives and families often missed out on time with their husband and father.
Interestingly the skills required to be a good veterinarian include problem solving and communication. These skills of course are relevant to many professions and community services so not surprisingly veterinarians have often made significant contributions in the broader community - Judith Slocum and Goff Letts being two veterinarians whose contributions to society extends way beyond the practice of veterinary medicine.
Well done to all veterinarians and their wives and families and the many people who have worked with them.

John Brumby’s banning of duck shooting on the former Lake Mokoan site is rubbing salt into the wound of the decommissioning of Lake Mokoan according to Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes.
Dr Sykes said that he became aware of the ban on duck shooting on the former Lake Mokoan recently and in one forum the provider of the information was quite evasive when questioned about the ban. This highlights yet again the deceitful manner in which the Brumby Government treats ordinary Victorians.
Dr Sykes raised the issue in Parliament on 5 October when he said, “This House condemns the deceitful, arrogant Brumby Government for surreptitiously banning duck shooting on the former Lake Mokoan in order to secure the preferences of the Greens with total disregard to the longstanding, inter-generational sporting activity of thousands of ordinary Victorians and further calls upon the Brumby Government to immediately reverse this outrageous restriction of the rights of ordinary Victorians.”
According to Dr Sykes this ban on duck shooting follows the Bracks/Brumby Government’s appalling mismanagement of the relocation of Murray Cod and Yellow Belly from Lake Mokoan when it dried up in the drought.
Dr Sykes said, “Documents obtained by me under Freedom of Information highlighted that only a couple hundred Murray Cod and Yellow Belly were relocated and that many thousands of native fish died.
“In spite of this appalling success rate the Brumby Government agencies declared the fish salvage operation a success – if that was a success I’d hate to see a disaster!
“If elected at the State Election on 27 November the Liberal-National Coalition would revoke this ban to enable law abiding duck shooters continue their long standing inter-generational tradition of shooting ducks on the former Lake Mokoan.”
 

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes declared his “nil tolerance” attitude to dangerous dogs in Parliament last night.

Dr Sykes’ contribution to the debate on Domestic Animals Amendment (Dangerous Dogs) Bill was cut short and so he conveyed his key message up front.

Dr Sykes referred to his personal experience with sheep killing dogs to highlight that he had a “nil tolerance” for sheep killers and other dangerous dogs, declaring that he “had dispatched many” dogs that he had detected killing or maiming his or his neighbour’s sheep.

Other key points in Dr Sykes’ contribution was the view which he shared with many people that a dog should be judged as dangerous by its behaviour rather than its breed, summarised as  “deed not breed”.

Dr Sykes expanded on his concern about the breed based component of the legislation by describing it as ‘fundamentally flawed’ (because of the many other factors such as the level of socialisation, training and the environment which can influence a dog’s behaviour).

He also highlighted the difficulty of accurate identification of breeds and their crosses describing the development of breed specification guidelines “as a mine field”.

In relation to behaviour, Dr Sykes supports the government proposed decision making process stating that the (decision making guidelines), “template and the decision making tree are a very sound basis for addressing the issue and whilst they may be refined in the light of experience they…will alleviate many concerns raised by very many people”.

Dr Sykes concluded, “Responsible dog owners have little to fear from this toughening of legislation and it is now up to the Brumby Government to ensure effective enforcement of the legislation starting with drastically reducing the numbers of unregistered dogs, which is currently a massive 40% of the total dog population.”