The campaign to remove feral horses from Kosciuszko National Park made a major step forward in March when a petition to the NSW Parliament to repeal the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act was handed over to Dr Joe McGirr, MLA for Wagga Wagga.

Dr McGirr will present the petition, which reached 11,300 signatures, to the NSW Legislative Assembly in May. Under NSW Parliament rules, any paper petition over 10,000 signatures triggers a formal debate in parliament.

The petition was formally handed over to DR McGirr at a ceremony at NSW Parliament House on 27 March. The occasion was notable for the evident multi-party support for the petition. Speakers included Dr McGirr (Independent), Trish Doyle and Steve Whan (ALP), James Griffin (Liberal) and Sue Higginson (Greens).

This range of support provides hope, though not a guarantee, that the bill to repeal the KWHH Act will pass through both houses of the NSW Parliament.

The campaign to protect Kosciuszko by removing the environmentally damaging feral horses is led by the Invasive Species Council and supported by a range of organisations including NPA ACT and NPA NSW.

 Many NPA ACT members generously gave their time to help on the ‘petition tables’ at which most of the petition signatures were collected. The tables were set up in shopping centres, open air markets and in national parks in locations ranging from Wagga Wagga to Coffs Harbour.

NPA ACT members interested in attending the petition debate in the NSW Parliament should contact LiThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Attendance at the debate is a great way to demonstrate support, and an intriguing opportunity to witness democracy in action.

Linda Groom