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Historic win: NSW lower house votes to repeal feral horse protection law in victory for Kosciuszko and its wildlife

The Invasive Species Council and the NSW National Parks Association hailed a landmark victory for nature, with the NSW Parliament’s lower house voting to tear up the controversial Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act – a law introduced by former Deputy Premier John Barilaro that protected feral horses over critically endangered species and sensitive alpine ecosystems in a national park. 

The Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Repeal Bill 2025, introduced by Wagga Wagga MP Dr Joe McGirr, was passed with the support of Labor, Liberal, Greens and Independent MPs.

Snowy River guide, Reclaim Kosci founder and Invasive Species Council Indigenous Ambassador Richard Swain said:

‘It’s a relief to put this sad chapter behind us. This battle was originally won in the 1940’s when grazing was taken off the mountains and what a shame it was as a nation to be back there 70-odd years later protecting hard-hooved animals over our native landscapes and animals again.

‘Finally, Country can breathe and not suffer under the weight of a culture that puts a fictitious mythology above the reality of their damage to Country and the species that evolved there.’

Invasive Species Council CEO Jack Gough said:

‘This is an incredible win for our wildlife and mountain streams. Barilaro’s feral horse protection law was never based on science – it was a political stunt that put a feral animal above critically endangered species, like the southern corroboree frog, and fragile alpine landscapes. 

‘Today, Parliament has come together across party lines to finally put that mistake behind us. The next step must be to reduce feral horses to as near zero as possible, ensuring that Kosciuszko National Park is never again left to become a degraded horse paddock.’

NSW National Parks Association CEO Gary Dunnett said:

‘This is a long-overdue step which will ensure the recent good work by the National Parks Service to reduce the out-of-control feral horse population can continue.

‘Feral horse numbers in the park are finally trending downward. No one likes to see animals killed but this is the tough decision we have to make to protect our wildlife. 

‘We’re already seeing early signs of ecological recovery – but we will still have over 3,000 horses trashing one third of the national park. Now is the time to finish the job.’

Media inquiries: (02) 8006 5004

Photos of horse damage in the park are available here.

Related Content

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Meet the Invaders: Horses
24 fold increase in annual feral horse removals gives Kosciuszko’s native animals a chance

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    Dear Project Team,

    [YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

    I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

    The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

    The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

    This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

    Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

    Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

    Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

    I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]


    Dear Project Team,

    [YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

    I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

    The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

    The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

    This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

    Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

    Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

    Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

    I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]