Government policy on dingo control and other pests is both "nonsensical" and "unproductive", according to Murra Warra farmer and National Farmers' Federation president David Jochinke.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
"We see that in government [pest] policy, especially anything to do with animals, it's all about the rights and no responsibilities," he said.
"That's a real frustration for farmers and to be quite frank, it's just stupid policy."
Mr Jochinke was responding to questions from Australian Community Media at the Future Ag Expo in Melbourne in April.
He was asked about the struggle of farmers in north-west Victoria who were grappling with dingo or wild dog attacks on their flocks.
Alan Bennett, Lawloit, had 30 ewes killed by dingos in a spate of attacks on his farm.
The dingos were roaming onto his land from the adjacent Big Desert National Park.
He said he had been waiting three weeks for a permit to be granted by the Department of Energy, Environment, Climate Action (DEECA) to enable him to control one dingo.
While he waited, DEECA officials asked him to store the carcass of one of the mauled ewes in a freezer so they could check for dingo DNA at a later point.
The officials also set up cameras along Mr Bennett's boundary to identify the canines.
"It's exceptionally stressful and very upsetting to see this happening, especially when we are powerless," he said.
Mr Jochinke was highly critical of DEECA's actions and the department's ask for a farmer to put an animal in a freezer.
"In whose reality am I going to be doing that?," he asked.
"Who's supplying this freezer and who's paying for the power for it?
"Why am I doing the work of the rangers?"
He instead suggested that DEECA should put more people on the ground to look after the cause of dingo population expansion, rather than scrambling to manage the effect of it.
Mr Jochinke said pest control was an issue across Australia and federal government needed to work with rather than against farmers on the issue.
