Page: 2049
Mr WEBB (Monaro) [3.26 p.m.]: I report on a rather wonderful, innovative project that is in its infancy and marks the dawning of a new age for wild horse control in the Snowy Mountains. That program, under the Australian Stock Whip Program, has been dubbed the Australian Stock Wild Horse Incarceration Prevention program by the General Manager of the Snowy River Shire Council, Mr Ross McKinney, who has been very actively involved in promoting this concept. He has experience of a similar program in the United States of America that has been running successfully for some time. I have called on the Government to support the proposal to implement a wild horse training program for low-security inmates in prisons as a means of rehabilitation and increasing job skills as well as serving a need for wild horse control in the Kosciuszko National Park.
The success of the program would obviously be transferred elsewhere across the State and perhaps the nation as an additional method of controlling wild horses. The concept has been modelled in the United States of America, where Colorado Canon City prisoners have broken-in more than 10,000 horses using modern techniques and later went on to train them and sell them. Psychological benefits have been derived from the patience learned by the prisoners in their handling of the horses. It has long been recognised that rehabilitation and reskilling is very successful when animals are introduced into the equation as a third party. It is also important to note that the experiences, the training and the outdoors opportunities provided to low-security inmates—and I stress, low-security, low-risk inmates who are probably looking forward to release in the short term—will enable them to assimilate well into working life after their term in prison.
Today that term in prison can cost the taxpayer up to $70,000 per year. Anything we can do to successfully rehabilitate prisoners, to reskill and retrain them, to give them another objective in life, certainly must be trialled. I applaud the New South Wales Government, the Premier's Office, and Colin Steele from Queanbeyan, who have supported the program and provided some $20,000 for initial feasibility studies and the development of a business plan. The Federal member, Gary Nairn, has also supported the program and provided funding to the tune of $22,275 through the Regional Assistance program. John Dedman, the Executive Officer of the South East Area Consultative Committee, has also supported the program and the recommendation for Federal funding. In Mr Dedman's words, "This project stands to provide a boost to the economy of the region."
It is important to note the benefits of the program. It will establish a facility for people who are at risk of entering our prison system, for the purpose of training feral horses and brumbies obtained from New South Wales national parks for sale to suitably qualified individuals within the community. The program will serve to reskill inmates within our corrective services institutions and give them a second chance. It will provide for accommodation, education and training of participants under professional guidance. Participants will be given the opportunity to learn life skills, all aspects of equine management, leather working, carriage restoration, marketing and sales, and distance education.
The program is a win-win solution. The local community wins and the inmates win. The Department of Corrective Services has been fully involved in the development of the program. The RSPCA fully supports it, particularly given the public outcry at the time of the attempt to control wild horses in Guy Fawkes River National Park. More than 600 wild horses were shot and slaughtered—some say, from helicopters—which is a disgrace. The brumby, Australia's wild horse, has been a wonderful aspect of our cultural history, having been part of early pioneering in Australia. It played an important role in service to the country during times of war, and to this day continues to play a role in both work and recreation. The horse is a living cultural symbol of this nation and will always be one of the country's greatest legends.
The program will assist land managers and the National Parks and Wildlife Service in controlling the feral horse, the brumby, in New South Wales. It will not only promote that icon as a working horse suitable for all kinds of activities, but it will ensure the brumby's continued existence. The National Parks and Wildlife Service has great difficulty dealing with the problem of wild horses. There are some 3,000 to 8,000 brumbies in the Kosciusko National Park alone. In large numbers the horses may cause some damage, but in smaller numbers they are much more sustainable. The program has my wholehearted support and I am pleased that the New South Wales Government also supports it. I hope the program is successful.