Reject the “Conservation Hunting” Bill 2025

The Game and Feral Animal Legislation Amendment (Conservation Hunting) Bill 2025 is a dangerous and regressive piece of legislation that seeks to expand recreational hunting in New South Wales under the guise of conservation. It proposes sweeping changes that will enshrine a 'right to hunt', give hunters a louder voice in public land management and allow more hunting on Crown land.

“There are significant animal welfare concerns, there’s no proper oversight, and anyone walking around public spaces with guns provides an enormous public safety risk.”

- Emma Hurst

The bill lays the foundation for a massive expansion of hunting access, the weakening of wildlife protection and the prioritisation of hunting interests above community safety, animal welfare and environmental stewardship.

This dangerous Bill could have slipped through, but thanks to the work of our MP, Emma Hurst, it was successfully referred to a parliamentary inquiry. 

Emma now sits on the committee reviewing it, and she needs your voice to show how many people oppose this cruelty.

We urgently need compassionate voices to speak up. Without strong public opposition from people who care, this cruel Bill could become law.

This guide will help you make a powerful, effective submission in just a few minutes.

📆 Submissions close: 4th August 2025

👉 Click here to make your submission

Anyone can make a submission, individuals or organisations. The Parliament site simply asks for basic contact details and gives people the option to remain anonymous if they wish.

Why This Bill Must Be Stopped

The bill would:

• Open 50,000+ hectares of public land to recreational shooters
  
  
• Introduce bounty systems to reward the killing of animals like goats, pigs, cats, dogs and rabbits
  
  
• Create a Minister for Hunting and Fishing, embedding animal killing into government
  
  
• Rebrand animal cruelty as “conservation” while ignoring science and public safety

This bill has nothing to do with conservation or managing invasive species. This is about pushing a recreational killing agenda.

By sharing your thoughts, you can highlight the issues they face and push for the necessary reforms to ensure their protection and welfare. Your submission plays a massive role in shaping future policies.

Emma urges you to add your submission - your voice is everything for animals!

📝 Tips for Making a Powerful Submission

Your voice counts! Even if you write only one paragraph, you’re making a difference.

Parliamentary submissions are treated as formal evidence, so clear, well-reasoned responses carry real weight. But your values and compassion matter too, heartfelt, respectful statements can still make a powerful impact.

Use your own words. Unique submissions carry more weight than copy-paste messages. Feel free to draw from the talking points below, just put them in your own voice.

Together, we can show the committee that this bill is not in the public interest.

Example Submission (if short on time)

I strongly oppose the Game and Feral Animal Legislation Amendment (Conservation Hunting) Bill 2025 on the following grounds:

1. Opening over 50,000 hectares of public land to recreational hunting with silencers significantly increases safety risks for bushwalkers, families and pets.
   
   
2. Bounty systems are widely discredited as an ineffective and inhumane control method, often leading to prolonged animal suffering and orphaned juveniles.
   
   
3. The bill’s framing of hunting as “conservation” is misleading, as genuine conservation relies on science-based, humane management techniques, which this bill does not promote.
   
   
4. Establishing a Minister for Hunting and Fishing institutionalises support for hunting over other evidence-based wildlife management approaches.

I urge the committee to reject this bill and instead invest in non-lethal, scientifically supported programs for wildlife and land management.

Every Submission Counts! 

Even a simple statement like, “I strongly oppose this Bill. It promotes cruelty, risks public safety and falsely labels hunting as conservation. I support non-lethal and humane, science-based wildlife protection.” can make a difference.

Key Facts and Points to Include in Your Submission

1. Public land access and safety risks

• The bill proposes opening over 50,000 hectares of public land to recreational hunting. This significantly increases risks to bushwalkers, families and companion animals sharing these areas.
  

• Crown land should be for everyone — not a small minority of shooters
  

• The legalisation of silencers (suppressors) will make it harder to detect gunshots, raising public safety concerns, especially in popular outdoor recreation zones.

2. Ineffectiveness and cruelty of bounty systems

• Bounties encourage indiscriminate killing, which has been shown internationally to be ineffective in controlling pest populations.
  

• Bounties lead to animal suffering, including wounded animals escaping and dying slowly and orphaned juveniles left to starve.
  

• Multiple government and academic reviews have recommended against bounty schemes due to these welfare concerns.

3. Biosecurity Risks of Recreational Hunting

• Recreational hunting increases the risk of diseases like tularemia and other foodborne illnesses spreading from animals to humans through contact with carcasses or consumption of wild meat, especially without proper hygiene or oversight.

• Lead-based ammunition pollutes soil and waterways and leaves fragments in carcasses, harming scavenging animals and posing health risks to people. Other toxic metals like arsenic and antimony can also remain in the environment long after hunting has taken place.

• Uncoordinated hunting can cause animals to flee into new areas, expanding their range. This disruption to social groups may lead to increased breeding, undermining long-term, humane, science-based management efforts.

4. Misleading conservation claims

• Genuine conservation is science-based: it focuses on ecosystem health, habitat protection and humane, targeted wildlife management strategies.
  

• Recreational hunting and broad culling programs have not been proven to benefit biodiversity and can disrupt ecological balance.

5. Lack of animal welfare oversight while promoting hunting

• Establishing a Minister for Hunting and Fishing elevates hunting as a government priority, potentially sidelining other conservation and welfare approaches. This contrasts with international trends focusing on non-lethal wildlife management.

• Animal protection is falling behind. Animal welfare laws are overseen by the Department of Primary Industries, the same department that supports industries that use and harm animals. This is a clear conflict of interest.

• Instead of boosting hunting, the government should establish an Independent Office of Animal Protection, one that is properly funded and free from industry influence.

• Expanding hunting powers while ignoring animal cruelty issues shows the government’s priorities are dangerously out of balance.

6. Alternatives exist and work

• Fertility control, habitat restoration, and professional land management have been shown to reduce introduced animal impacts humanely and sustainably.
  

• Community engagement and education promote peaceful coexistence with native wildlife.

Closing Statement Options

Below are a range of closing statement examples, each tailored to different perspectives, feel free to use or adapt whichever one best reflects your voice.

Outdoor Enthusiast / Bushwalker

I regularly use public lands for hiking and recreation. The idea of hunting with silencers and unrestricted shooting on these lands concerns me due to the increased risk it poses to visitors like me, families, and pets. Public land must be safe for everyone and this bill undermines that safety. I ask the committee to prioritise public wellbeing over recreational hunting.

Conservation-Focused Citizen

True conservation relies on science, habitat protection and humane wildlife management. This bill’s approach of promoting hunting and bounties runs counter to internationally recognised best practices and risks damaging fragile ecosystems. Please reject this bill and invest in sustainable, ethical conservation programs.

Volunteer / Animal Advocate

As someone who volunteers with animal welfare organisations, I see firsthand the suffering caused by reckless hunting and bounty systems. This bill would only increase unnecessary cruelty and put vulnerable wildlife at risk. I urge the committee to reject this legislation and support compassionate, evidence-based approaches that protect all animals.

Not a NSW resident?

I am not a resident of NSW but fully support those opposing this bill. Around the world, there is a growing movement toward humane, science-based wildlife management that prioritises coexistence, fertility control, habitat restoration, and community engagement. These approaches reduce the need for lethal methods and focus on protecting ecosystems and animal welfare alike.

I urge the committee to reject this bill, which promotes recreational killing and outdated bounty systems and instead invest in modern, ethical strategies that better serve animals, communities and the environment.

Every Voice Counts

🔗 Click here to lodge your submission

Need help writing or lodging your submission?
📧 Email: [email protected]

This bill is not about managing introduced species, it is certainly not about conservation. It is about embedding recreational hunting deeper into our public land system and public policy and we must stop it.

Make your voice heard. Demand the bill be withdrawn.

We must show the NSW Government that the public rejects cruelty and instead demands a kind, science-led approach to protecting animals and our environment.