Executive Summary
The Australian Alps are a national icon. On the driest inhabited continent on earth, renowned for its extensive coastlines and vast desert interior, the Alps are recognised as an exceptional alpine environment. The region contains substantial heritage values ranging from specialised ecosystems to unique flora and fauna; from millennia of Indigenous cultural heritage to more recent European pioneering history and culture.
Despite this, the heritage-listed Australian Alps are under pressure from significant threats. Key among these is the threat posed by feral horses. Along with other introduced species, feral horses have caused significant damage to this fragile environment. There are an estimated 25,000 feral horses impacting the broader Australian Alps region. They freely cross state borders, and the impact they have on the environment spreads well beyond their immediate range, including polluting waterways.
The Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves are an incredibly fragile, precious ecosystem supporting critically endangered and vulnerable native plants and animals. Many of these species are not found anywhere on the planet other than the Australian Alps, and some are at high risk of imminent extinction. Feral horses directly impact 12 animal species that occur in the Australian Alps, and which are listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) as being threatened with extinction. It has been made clear that if feral horse populations are not urgently managed, there is a real risk of losing this unique landscape and the native species that call it home.
While the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves are listed federally as a National Heritage place (Australian Alps National Heritage Place), the individual parks and reserves which make it up are state land and are managed through a Memorandum of Understanding that provides states and territory with primary responsibility for management of the parks. This has perpetuated legislative and policy inconsistencies across jurisdictions regarding the management of feral horses and their impact on the unique heritage values of the Australian Alps. This will require collaborative action from Commonwealth, NSW, Victorian and ACT Governments to resolve.
The Commonwealth Government has obligations through the EPBC Act to protect listed National Heritage places and threatened species and communities. Further, it has commitments through binding international treaties such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Despite this, previous Commonwealth Governments have had minimal engagement in the management of feral horses, and the current EPBC Act has ultimately so far failed to protect the national heritage value of the Australian Alps, including critically endangered species, in spite of its National Heritage listing and international obligations.
While there are identified limitations on the Commonwealth Government to act on state land, as well as identified shortcomings of the EPBC Act which should be addressed through upcoming reform, it is clear there is still a role for Commonwealth leadership in addressing the damage of feral horses in the Australian Alps.
The current Commonwealth Environment Minister, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, recently acknowledged her love for horses but said ‘they don’t belong in our national parks’. In June 2023, the Minister, along with her NSW, Victorian and ACT counterparts, re-established the Alps Ministerial Council in a collaborative effort to act against ecological threats and integrated future planning for the alpine region. This represents an important resumption of much needed cooperation to properly manage the Australian Alps.
The Albanese Government has also set a target of preventing any new extinctions of plants and animals by 2032. In order to achieve this target, key threats to native species must be managed. The committee heard that feral horses are a significant threat to species such as the critically endangered Southern Corroboree Frog, Stocky Galaxias fish and other unique alpine species. Action to manage feral horse populations is urgent in preventing extinction of these species.
Further, the Australian Alps were identified as one of twenty ‘priority places’ across the nation in the Australian Government’s Threatened Species Action Plan. The plan involves targeted actions from 2022 to 2027 that may include elimination of particular invasive pests or weeds, implementation of First Nations ecological management practices and habitat restoration.
In order to preserve the fragile and unique Australian Alps, cooperation between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments is vital to protect and manage this National Heritage listed area. This will require collaboration to ensure state management is consistent with natural heritage values.
In 2018, the former NSW Government brought in the NSW Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act (NSW Wild Horse Heritage Act).By providing protections for feral horses, this Act poses significant limitations to protecting national heritage values of the region including highly vulnerable threatened species. Legislative inconsistencies between the Commonwealth and NSW were identified as a significant complicating factor for the overall effective management of feral horses in the Australian Alps National Heritage place. The NSW Act has allowed the existing population of feral horses to grow exponentially by limiting the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service’s ability to effectively manage them.
The current NSW Government has acknowledged that it needs to reassess its management methods in order to prevent further heritage, habitat and biodiversity degradation. The committee heard that only 5 to 10 NSW Government employees work on the management of approximately 19,000 feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
During the course of this inquiry, the NSW Government announced a public consultation on allowing aerial shooting of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park in order to meet its statutory obligation to reduce the population from around 19,000 in 2022 to 3,000 by June 2027. Evidence of a variety of management techniques showed that under current settings, it will be extremely difficult for the NSW Government to reach this target. The committee heard that aerial culling is both the most humane and cost-effective management tool considering the high population numbers and urgent reduction task at hand. As such, the NSW Government’s consideration of this matter is an important first step.
Victoria and the ACT have implemented more effective responses to managing feral horses in their jurisdictions. Victoria and the ACT received minimal financial assistance from the former Commonwealth Government to deal with feral horses, monitor their borders and undertake restoration work. Only the ACT has a population of zero feral horses.
Scientific evidence has made it clear that addressing the threats posed by feral horses to the Australian Alps area is urgent. Feral horses could be the final factor in the extinction of several Australian native plants and animals. Further, without effective management of population numbers, feral horses risk starvation as we enter another significant El Niño weather pattern. More financial and human resources are needed to manage the feral horse population and protect the fragile landscape of the Australian Alps.
It is clear that urgent and collaborative action is required from the Commonwealth, NSW, Victorian and ACT governments to protect the unique heritage values of the Australian Alps.
It is also clear that there is momentum and shared commitment across the four relevant governments. The committee strongly encourages continued determination and application of the necessary resources to this vital and urgent restoration effort.