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Speaker 1: Now we've just spoken to Tourism top End about the

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Speaker 1: expansion of Lichfield National Park. Now we're making the announcement

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Speaker 1: on Monday. The Minister for Parks and Wildlife and Tourism

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Speaker 1: and Hospitality, Murray Clare Boothby, said it would deliver on

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Speaker 1: the government's election promise to give Territorians more places to camp,

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Speaker 1: four wheel drive, swim and hunt. So what does the

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Speaker 1: expansion mean when it comes to hunting. Well, joining me

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Speaker 1: on the line right now is Bart Irwin. He is

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Speaker 1: indeed an avid hunter and conservationist and fairly regular guest

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Speaker 1: on the show Get a Bart. Good to have you

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Speaker 1: on the show. Mate, tell me what was your reaction

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Speaker 1: when you heard the government had purchase Silkwood.

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Speaker 2: Well, I was delighted. And what struck me first reading

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Speaker 2: announcement the expansion of Lichfield into Silkwood was that hunting

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Speaker 2: was mentioned. This Country livel government that's true to its word,

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Speaker 2: that hunting is at the forefront of their view of

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Speaker 2: territory lifestyle.

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Speaker 1: Well, Bart, as soon as I saw hunting mentioned, I thought,

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Speaker 1: I wonder what Bartowen thinks of that. Whenever I think

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Speaker 1: of hunting, Mate, I always think of you. What do

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Speaker 1: you reckon.

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Speaker 2: Well, yeah, it's for the first time in eight years.

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Speaker 2: It isn't just fishing, fishing, fishing, if I hit fishing

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Speaker 2: one more time, but haunters in their constituents at this

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Speaker 2: government value too. I remember when Leah included hunting in

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Speaker 2: her victory speech last August. I knew the end of

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Speaker 2: the tide had turned for the hunting community. And it's

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Speaker 2: not before time either. So but from.

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Speaker 1: Your perspective, because I know Keesy epiriculd message me just

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Speaker 1: a little while ago and she said that she thought

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Speaker 1: there was a situation with Silkwood where hunters could go

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Speaker 1: out and hunt feral pigs under a permit system, and

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Speaker 1: that it seemed to be good to help get rid

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Speaker 1: of feral pigs. What's your understanding at the moment of

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Speaker 1: what the go has been for Silkwood.

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Speaker 2: Well, the only thing I know about Silkwood is that

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Speaker 2: it was owned by I think a doctor there and

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Speaker 2: he added it up for sale for some time. But

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Speaker 2: I think what it will do the backcountry hunting program

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Speaker 2: that exists currently or has for ten years. I think

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Speaker 2: the Giles government brought it in in an area of

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Speaker 2: Litchfield Park National Park. I would imagine this is going

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Speaker 2: to give them an opportunity to extend those areas. The

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Speaker 2: program is successfully allowed a national park to include recreational

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Speaker 2: hunting without conflict or interaction between hunters in the general

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Speaker 2: tourist community for ten years, which is a pretty which

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Speaker 2: has a big good record when you consider how many

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Speaker 2: people have been through there, and that's been integral to

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Speaker 2: the pest management of feral animals like buffalo and pigs.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so, like, what ideally, from your perspective when it

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Speaker 1: comes to silkwood, what do you think could happen, you know,

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Speaker 1: to sort of expand or to enable hunting out in

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Speaker 1: this new area.

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Speaker 2: Well, I don't think the topography of the area will

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Speaker 2: will have wetlands for waterfowl huntings. But we believe that

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Speaker 2: the government's genuine in its campaign promise to open a

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Speaker 2: new hunting reserves suitable for goose and duck hunting. By

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Speaker 2: their early action last it was only three weeks after

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Speaker 2: the election, they began work on a causeway at Harrison

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Speaker 2: Dam along the east side of Beatrice Lagoon and they

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Speaker 2: linked up more high ground across through tributaries and added

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Speaker 2: twenty percent more shoreline or more area to the hunters there,

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Speaker 2: So that was pretty quick action. The hunting in here

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Speaker 2: will I if it goes along the back country hunting system,

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Speaker 2: it'll be quite possibly still be balloted. But as the

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Speaker 2: previous guest you had on and said, it's the access

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Speaker 2: to that area of silk wood would be year round,

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Speaker 2: Well that isn't the case with where they are currently

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Speaker 2: in Litchfield. So that if that's the case, there's an

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Speaker 2: area put aside. Would I think it's sixty thousand acres

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Speaker 2: or something or roughly a bit more than that. That

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Speaker 2: will add a lot of hunting opunities for the people

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Speaker 2: are credited because of that country hunting. You have to

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Speaker 2: be accredited, you have to do a course and so forth,

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Speaker 2: and then you're balloted two or three days I think

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Speaker 2: maximum four days throughout that dry season will now be

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Speaker 2: ample opportunity to get in there and coural or not coal.

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Speaker 2: But take out pigs and buffalo that cause damage in

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Speaker 2: those areas, especially if there is a to work ground,

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Speaker 2: they really ruin it.

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Speaker 1: But look, I know, as I say this, I'm sure

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Speaker 1: some people will be not agreeing with me at all.

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Speaker 1: But do you think that it could also potentially provide

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Speaker 1: an opportunity maybe for a tourism operator, you know, to

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Speaker 1: have hunting experiences for people in the northern territory.

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Speaker 2: Oh, certainly there are there are hunting safari operators that

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Speaker 2: already operate on their own conceptions of stations and aboriginal

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Speaker 2: But this will, this will bring and it is always

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Speaker 2: the issue of bringing international tourists. It's difficult because all

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Speaker 2: of a sudden, you know, when they're having their winter

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Speaker 2: and want to get away from it like we do,

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Speaker 2: they can't get out there because it's just too wet.

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Speaker 2: You can't move. So those those operators, those safari operos

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Speaker 2: pack their camps over the wet season and they move

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Speaker 2: down south or they go do the day job. But

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Speaker 2: this gives, this gives the opportunity for even more hunting tourism.

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Speaker 2: And in Australia there's five hundred thousand hunters across the

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Speaker 2: whole territory. A lot of them comes for goose season.

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Speaker 2: This will give me the opportunity to also go to silk

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Speaker 2: wood and maybe take on a buffalo or some kids.

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Speaker 1: Well, Bart Irwin, it's good to speak with you this morning.

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Speaker 1: Like I say, when I saw this announcement and I

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Speaker 1: saw hunting mentioned, I thought, oh, I wonder what bart thanks,

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Speaker 1: and I wonder what opportunities it could provide. So it

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Speaker 1: is really good to talk to you this morning and

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Speaker 1: hear what you think about it all.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie so much for calling, and your focus on

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Speaker 2: hunting is always very welcome amongst your listenership for sure.

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Speaker 1: Good on your butt. Thank you mate, I appreciate it.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you,