THE LNP-appointed chairman of QDOG Ivan Naggs and his committee, have been given their marching orders as the state government clears the decks for a new wild dog ministerial advisory group.
The announcement that a new committee and chairman is soon to be appointed comes in the wake of opposition questioning of Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne after time spent on wild dog issues at budget estimate hearings in state parliament last week.
Mr Byrne admitted he had not had any meetings on wild dog management since taking over the agriculture portfolio in February, following questioning by shadow agriculture minister Deb Frecklington. The last time QDOG met was on December 15 last year.
"It's disheartening the minister hasn't found time for QDOG, even though he's found time for two overseas trips," Ms Frecklington said at the time.
Mr Byrne announced this week he had "reinvigorated QDOG, made it more representative of industry, environment, research and community groups, and more representative of all of Queensland's regions".
The make-up of the new committee is a return to the Bligh government formula.
Letters have been sent requesting representatives from AgForce, the Local Government Association of Queensland (one representative from inside the Wild Dog Barrier Fence, one from outside it and one from peri-urban areas), the Queensland Conservation Council, the Department of National Parks, Sport and Racing, the Gulf Catchments Pest Task Force, and Dogwatch.
The latter is a community group comprising the heads of wild dog advisory committees.
National wild dog coordinator Greg Mifsud and a community representative may also play a role on the new committee.
The government has not yet said who the new QDOG chair will be but it is expected that, with the group's first meeting to take place in September, an announcement will be imminent.
Dumped chairman Ivan Naggs said he had "no gripes" with the government changes.
"I expected the new government would want their stamp of approval," he said.
"I imagine I'll still have input via AgForce's wild dog committee."
He said the retiring QDOG committee had made a lot of positive changes to wild dog control, such as the accreditation of commercial resellers of 1080 baits, and encouraging the flow of money for trapping schools and coordinated baiting days, especially in coastal and cattle areas of the state.
"We were able to keep wild dog issues in front of people," he said.
