The ABC Ombudsman has released a rare, scathing report which finds the ABC breached the Corporation’s editorial standards for accuracy and impartiality when reporting on the issue of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park. The ABC have issued a correction and clarification, but not an apology.
The finding supports detailed complaints made by the Invasive Species Council about ABC radio news reports on 8 April 2024 which made unsubstantiated claims that the government’s count of feral horses was wrong and failed to present a range of publicly available, expert information on animal welfare.
In response, Jack Gough Advocacy Director Invasive Species Council said:
‘While it is disappointing that it took 2 months to resolve such a clear example of biased and inaccurate reporting, we welcome this clear and scathing ruling from the independent ABC Ombudsman.
‘The Ombudsman has unequivocally backed up our detailed complaint to the ABC about the stark inaccuracies, lack of context and bias in a report on feral horses read by journalist Jamelle Wells on ABC radio in April this year.
‘The Ombudsman has found that the unbalanced ABC report, as well as the comments provided to the ABC by National Party MP Wes Fang, failed to identify a single credible expert source to substantiate their claim that the government’s estimate of the feral horse population in Kosciuszko National Park was wrong.
‘The Ombudsman also found that comprehensive expert information and context on the animal welfare outcomes of the aerial cull was ignored and that the ABC ignored an extensive list of relevant, credible, and expert organisations, including the RSPCA NSW and the Australian Veterinary Association, who are supportive of the government’s aerial cull.
‘It is disappointing that the ABC have not issued an apology to their readers for this inaccurate and misleading report.’
The complaint from the Invasive Species Council to the ABC also exposed extensive evidence that the journalist who read out the inaccurate and biased report, Jamelle Wells, was actively assisting a campaign to stop aerial shooting of feral horses. This included regular posts on social media attacking the NSW Government and the RSCPA, advising the campaign on media strategy, encouraging them to seek donations for a PR firm and assisting them to find a PR firm.
This was covered by ABC’s Media Watch who said that it compromised the ABC’s independence.
This issue of journalistic bias and misconduct by Jamelle Wells remains unresolved as the Ombudsman has concluded that this is a matter for ABC management.
The ABC advised the federal Senate last week that there is an ongoing investigation into whether or not this was considered to be misconduct but that this is unable to be finalised as the journalist is on personal leave.
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Background notes
- A November 2023 NSW government survey of feral horse numbers found that there are about 17,393 feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park (with a 95% confidence interval of between 12,797 and 21,760). This is an increase from about 6,000 feral horses in 2014.
- This population survey was completed by an independent expert from the University of New England and has been peer-reviewed by the CSIRO and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
- In NSW, feral horses are protected at the expense of native wildlife under the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018, which requires a ‘heritage herd’ of feral horses to be maintained in Kosciuszko National Park.
- The current management plan for feral horses, which was introduced by the former Liberal Government, imposes a legal obligation on NSW National Parks to carry out control operations to reduce the feral horse population to 3,000 across 32% of Kosciuszko National Park by 2027.
- According to the NSW Government evidence on 23 May 2024 to the NSW Legislative Council, 8,718 feral horses were removed from Kosciuszko National Park between November 2021, when the current management plan commenced, and 22 May 2024. Of these, 6,179 have been removed since the last population count in October 2023 and 5,539 have been removed using aerial shooting, which was approved in October 2023.
- The 2023 amendment to allow aerial shooting was supported by the RSPCA NSW, the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Veterinary Association, the Public Service Association of NSW, the Royal Zoological Society of NSW, the Brungle Tumut Local Aboriginal Land Council, the NSW Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee, the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Community Advisory Panel, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Advisory Council and the Southern Ranges NPWS Regional Advisory Committee.
- Between July 2021 and June 2023, 239,034 feral animals, including feral pigs, deer and horses, were removed across NSW using aerial shooting by the NSW Government (National Parks and Wildlife Service and Local Land Services combined).
- The Australian Senate inquiry report into the Impacts and management of feral horses in the Australian Alps was released in October 2023 and recommended that:
- Aerial shooting should be adopted for control of feral horses in NSW (adopted by the NSW Government in October 2023)
- Habitat degradation, competition and disease transmission by feral horses should be listed as a Key Threatening Process under national environmental law (Agreed to in principle in federal government response)
- The federal government should provide additional funding to assist NSW and Victoria to control feral horses (Not yet agreed to by the Albanese Government)
- The Senate committee also found that it ‘is not currently possible for both the EPBC Act and the NSW Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018 to be complied with’ and that ‘the committee considers that there may be an issue relating to the constitutional validity of the NSW Wild Horse Heritage Act to the extent it is inconsistent with the EPBC Act.’
- National Parks staff undertake feral horse control work professionally, humanely, and safely. This has been confirmed by two independent animal welfare reviews (here and here) of NSW feral horse control operations which found that:
- Animal welfare outcomes are prioritised and are better than predicted, as confirmed by independent veterinary observations.
- There was no evidence of non-kill shots having been taken.
- Standard Operating Procedures are rigorously followed, and all personnel have welfare as a priority.
- Australia’s alpine plants and animals did not evolve with heavy, hard-hoofed feral horses. They are not native and cause enormous damage to sensitive habitat, degrading and polluting alpine streams and driving native species towards extinction.
- The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee have described feral horses as an ‘imminent threat’ to the Albanese government’s commitment to prevent new extinctions of plants and animals and stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
- The 2023 state election demonstrated that having a strong position on feral horse management in Kosciuszko was electorally popular. There were strong swings to candidates and parties that took firm positions on feral horse control, most notably in the seats of Wagga Wagga and Monaro.
- 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 the Australian Alps.
- The video of Claire Galea saying in November 2023 that she would be “amazed if there’s 5 or 6 hundred horses at most” is here (at 20 min): ONEEGS Recording #047 – WHO WILL SAVE OUR HERITAGE WILD HORSES? (youtube.com)
- The video of Peter Cochrane saying in July 2021 that “there’s lucky to be 900” feral horses is here (at 3 min 38s): (20+) Video | Facebook
How many feral horses need to be removed to reduce the population?
Modelling conducted for the Invasive Species Council by ecologist Dr Don Fletcher has found that to get to the legally required population of 3,000 by 2027, about 5,991 horses will have to be removed annually.
This is based on the population survey in November 2023 which found there were approximately 17,432 feral horses in the National Park and uses an annual population growth rate of 15% – the average growth rate since 2003.
The modelling also found that:
- Just to stop the population from growing, 2,825 horses will have to be removed every year.
- At a higher 18% growth rate, 6,419 will have to be removed annually to reach 3,000 by 2027.
- Delaying adequate action will increase the cost, damage and number of feral horses killed. For example, a 3-year delay in reaching 3,000 will mean an extra 6-7,000 feral horses are killed.
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