DROUGHT-weary landholders struggling to control plague numbers of kangaroos have received some reprieve with the State Government agreeing to relax regulations around the culling of macropods.
Landowners will now be able to apply for a damage mitigation permit (DMP) to cull up to 1000 kangaroos, rather than the previous limit of 500 kangaroos.
There will also be no limitation on the number of DMPs that a landholder can submit in a calendar year and applications for DMPs will be processed within seven days of lodgement.
Member for Warrego, Howard Hobbs, met with the Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection, Andrew Powell, in Brisbane recently to discuss the issues facing landholders and said the changes to DMPs were long overdue.
"Most landholders are happy to play their part and run a certain number of kangaroos but not in the numbers they are the moment," Mr Hobbs said.
"Graziers are losing up to half their carrying capacity to kangaroos in some areas. They are struggling with drought and the impact of kangaroos on country they are trying to spell is devastating.
"Many landholders are too busy feeding stock to undertake the culling themselves but they are able to nominate another person who is authorised to hold a firearm, such as a member of a sporting shooters association, to carry out the actions under the landholders permit."
Meanwhile, the Maranoa Regional Council has called on the State Government to fund a population reduction and control of macropods by commercial harvesters in the south west areas of the Maranoa Shire.
Mungallala grazier and shire councillor Jan Chambers formally made the request two weeks ago but said she hadn't yet had a response from the State Government.
"I'd like to see them do away with the DMPs in drought declared areas because it's really just a paper trail," she said.
"I haven't heard anything yet and I am probably not very confident but I just felt we needed to bring this issue to the attention of the State Government and have them realise that something needs to be done," she said.
Cr Chambers said recent changes to DMPs regulations did not go far enough for landholders.