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Cattle battle
8 Jul 2004
Concerns about the environment may destroy a 170-year-old tradition of grazing cattle in Victoria's high country. Cattle are now listed as an environmental threat to alpine bogs in Victorian legislation, and the campaign to keep cattle out of the park is now in full swing.
A taskforce for the State Environment Minister will now conduct a public inquiry into the issue; at stake are 63 grazing licences. Cattlemen say an Australian tradition is also at stake: the summer muster of cattle to Victoria's high country. They've been here before - 20 years ago there was a similar campaign which saw 307 riders on horseback in a Bourke Street protest. But this time the stakes are higher.
Cattlemen say they have two strategic advantages in their battle against environmentalists: their heritage, and politics. The Mountain Cattlemen's Association of Victoria says this issue is a test of the Bracks' Government's concern and interest in rural Victoria. The association says five farmers would be unable to make a viable living without access to the high country and the rest would suffer economic loss, as would local businesses.
The Age, 8/7/04.
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