Report of Queen’s protest ‘beat-up’

Press, 15 July 1987, Page 5

Report of Queen’s protest ‘beat-up’

NZPA-AAP Canberra

A London newspaper report that the Queen had protested to the Australian Government about helicopter hunting of wild horses has been dismissed as a “beat-up” by a spokeswoman for the Minister for Primary Industry, Mr John Kerin. The spokeswoman, Lin Enright, said the Queen’s Equerry, Sir John Miller, had merely forwarded a number of protest letters and petitions sent to the Queen by concerned animal lovers.

Ms Enright said Buckingham Palace itself had

expressed no view on the practice. In a front-page story, the London “Sunday Mirror” claimed the Queen had protested to the Hawke Government through Sir John, who is in charge of the Queen’s horses, and that she had asked that the shootings be stopped. The “Sunday Mirror” said the Queen was “known to be alarmed” at the practice, which it said was done in Queensland and the Northern Territory with the Australian Government’s approval. But Ms Enright told AAP yesterday the culling ,of animals by helicopter or any other method was entirely a state government responsibility, and had nothing to do with the Federal Government.

Speaking from his home in Alice Springs, the Northern Territory Conservation, Lands and Tourism Minister, Mr Ray Hanrahan, said helicopter hunts were strictly controlled, and done only when unavoidable.

“Whenever possible, feral horses, camels and donkeys are rounded up by muster and sent to an abattoir in Tennant Creek,” Mr Hanrahan said.

“But occasionally, the terrain makes that impossible, and in such situations we give permission for expert marksmen to track down these animals with helicopters. Feral animals such' as wild horses are pests which gravely damage the natural environment.” Mr Hanrahan described as “an outrageous lie” a claim by the London newspaper that helicopter hunts had developed into a sport, with package safari trips costing thousands of dollars on offer in the territory.

Mr Hanrahan said he had received “several” protest letters over the years from animal conservationists concerned at the practice, but was not aware of any widespread concern among British animal lovers, as alleged by the “Sunday Mirror.”