SSAA Victoria has criticised Stock & Land for running successive articles on deer that amount to little more than republished media releases from the Invasive Species Council, rather than balanced reporting.
The latest piece, centred on an incident at Weerite, is a case in point.
At the time of publication, the matter remains under police investigation. There is no confirmed offender, no confirmed motive, and no confirmed link to licensed deer hunters. Yet that hasn’t stopped lobby groups using the incident to push sweeping claims about deer management, hunting laws and rural crime.
SSAA Victoria Hunting Development Manager David Laird said the conclusions being drawn simply do not stack up.
“Any illegal hunting is unacceptable, and we condemn it outright,” Mr Laird said.
“But trying to blame the legal status of deer for criminal behaviour is illogical. It doesn’t pass even basic scrutiny.”
Game status does not cause illegal behaviour
The claim that classifying deer as “game” somehow encourages illegal hunting is wrong.
Illegal shooting of animals, whether livestock, pest species or wildlife, is already covered by strong laws under the Firearms Act 1996 and the Wildlife Act 1975. In fact, where deer are involved, offences can attract additional penalties, including equipment seizure and prosecution by both Victoria Police and the Game Management Authority.
“If anything, game status makes illegal behaviour more serious, not less,” Mr Laird said.
“You have two enforcement agencies, stronger penalties and more deterrence.”
Removing deer from the wildlife framework would not stop criminal behaviour. It would simply reduce enforcement options.
Farmers already have the tools
Claims that deer “protection” prevents farmers from controlling impacts are equally misleading.
Three of Victoria’s four deer species are already unprotected on private land. The fourth, hog deer, can be controlled through an Authority to Control Wildlife where required. Landholders can engage agents, shoot deer at night, and use appropriate equipment without needing a game licence.
“The idea that farmers are somehow blocked from controlling deer is just not true,” Mr Laird said.
“Those settings were changed years ago. The tools are already there.”
Reclassifying deer would not change those practical realities.
Eradication rhetoric ignores reality
Calls for statewide deer eradication also ignore both science and experience.
Even proponents quoted in the article acknowledge eradication is only feasible in very small, isolated populations. Victoria is not that scenario. Deer are established across large parts of the state, and management requires sustained, integrated approaches including recreational hunting, professional control and habitat-based strategies.
A lack of balance in reporting
SSAA Victoria, which represents 48,000 members, including more than 15,000 licensed deer hunters, said the broader issue is the standard of reporting.
Regional media plays a critical role in informing farming communities and the public. But that role is undermined when articles repeat activist claims without scrutiny or balance.
There’s a well-known principle in journalism: if one person says it’s raining and another says it’s not, the job is to look out the window.
On deer, too often that step is being skipped.
“Hunters are out there every season contributing to deer management, particularly on public land where other control methods are limited,” Mr Laird said.
“They’re part of the solution, not the problem.”
Focus on facts, not fear
The Weerite incident should be investigated properly and dealt with based on evidence.
But using an unresolved case to push broad, alarmist claims about deer, hunters and the law does a disservice to readers, to landholders, and to anyone interested in genuine solutions.
SSAA Victoria is calling on Stock & Land to lift the standard of its coverage and ensure future reporting reflects the full picture, not just one side of a well-worn argument.
