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Tourism boycott over roo cull

03 Jul, 2009 07:58 AM
An animal welfare group says it will lead an international tourism boycott of Canberra in response to two kangaroo culls being carried out in the ACT.

The National Kangaroo Protection Coalition says it has 33 animal welfare groups with thousands of members who will boycott Canberra in response to the culls of 7000 kangaroos at the Majura training site and 550 at the Canberra Nature Park.

The group's spokesman, Pat O'Brien, said his group planned to circulate information about the culls to fuel anger.

He said he hoped the tourism ban would pressure Canberra's tourism industry to lobby the ACT Government to change its policy.

''We've been talking about it the last couple of days and we think it's one of the options we've got and probably the strongest option we've got to get the ACT Government to stop killing these kangaroos,'' Mr O'Brien said.

He said he could not provide a list of the members in the group due to some of their relationships with the ACT Government.

He said he believed the Canberra culls were based on unproven science and were motivated by an ACT Government ''hatred with kangaroos''.

Tourism Minister Andrew Barr said the boycott was misguided.

''While I respect the right of those concerned with animal welfare to voice their concerns, it is not fair for them to jeopardise the livelihoods of our hard-working and environmentally sustainable ACT tourism operators and the thousands of Canberrans they employ,'' Mr Barr said.

More in today's Canberra Times

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comments


Date: Newest first | Oldest first
Well Done Canberra, A win for common sense, the positive calls for the cull out weigh the negative 5-1. It just shows the majority of people support the culls no matter what the animal libs people say. And NO were not all "blood hungry murder mongers", we can see both sides of the story, however to be sustainable for all Animals and Humans culls are required from time to time...
Posted by Reality, 3/07/2009 3:49:59 PM
who the hell would want go to Canberra as a tourist destination anyway? I Used to live there and it's as boring as watching carpet rotting! The por old kangaroos would probably thank them for putting then out of their misery.
Posted by ralf, 3/07/2009 3:35:07 PM
Jon Stanhope said on TV that he enjoyed visiting the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. I find this very worrying.
Posted by Paul Neri, 3/07/2009 3:17:44 PM
So why not kill (cull) some starving humans, in overpopulated parts of Africa for istance?
Posted by meta, 3/07/2009 2:37:49 PM
Typical Greenie rubbish!!! It just shows how disconnected they really are to reality and the rest of Australia and the world.... And these people influence policy in Canberra. THE NATIONS CAPITAL!!! What a Joke SHAME SHAME CANBERRA!!!! What a disgrace!!!!!!!
Posted by Peter, 3/07/2009 2:29:33 PM
What a load of rubbish, it would be worse for tourists to see them splattered all over the road, take a drive down majura drive the evidence is on the side of the road.
Posted by acomment, 3/07/2009 2:12:42 PM
It's unfortunate but the numbers are too big in not enough space with not enough food. So what do the animal libbers want? I haven't heard them complain about killing off rabbits, which are also cute and furry and harmless ... until there's too many for a given area.
Posted by DB, 3/07/2009 2:09:32 PM
There is even no need for a "formal" boycott. When potential tourists see news of the slaughter ("culls") in international media, they will stay away from Canberra in droves. Seeing kangaroos close-up, in the wild, is one of Canberra's best attractions for overseas tourists, often more appreciated than a visit to Parliament House, museum or galleries and not readily available in Sydney or Melbourne. The species causing most over-population of the Planet is Homo "Sapiens" (?). So why do we not cull ourselves, e.g. by giving swine or some other flu free rein?
Posted by Meta, 3/07/2009 1:42:25 PM
I grew up in Sydney and over 40 years ago remember my father travelling to Canowindra twice a year to stay on a friends property and help with a 'shoot'. Some of the skins were made into mats. This was the only way to keep the numbers down so they could survive on the land along with the cattle, sheep etc. This is better than seeing them dead on the side of the road every morning when driving to work.
Posted by margaret meekin, 3/07/2009 1:22:46 PM
I am sure ACT Tourism are shaking in there boots!!!!---NOT. I am happy to run roo spotting tours for tourists. I can take them to multiple locations day or night and show them the roos eating the grass down to the roots.
Posted by huntalot, 3/07/2009 1:21:37 PM
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