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Taxpayers' beef about cattle subsidy
25 May 2004
The Victorian National Parks Association has accused wealthy high-country cattle owners of exploiting the Man from Snowy River myth to keep cattle in the Victorian Alps. VNPA said taxpayers have been subsiding licence-holders who don't live in the region. They pay $5 a-head fee to agist up to 8,000 cattle in the alps from December to May, which earns the State Government $40,000 a year but costs up to $500,000 in administration and management fees.
But the Mountain Cattleman's Association responded that only a small proportion of licence-holders are wealthy people, with most graziers battling to stay viable after drought and bushfires. While the VNPA admitted that many graziers would suffer and need financial assistance if licences were cancelled, it said money is not the issue. Whether licence-holders are wealthy or not, there's nothing that requires six to eight thousand head of cattle being in one of the state's prime natural areas, a VNPA spokesman said.
Victoria's Environment Minister will decide on the future of alpine grazing by August this year.
Herald Sun, 24/5/04.
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