MINUTES OF THE GAME ANIMAL COUNCIL MEETING 23 FEBRUARY 2015
Held at Hotel Grand Chancellor Auckland Airport
Present: Don Hammond (Chair), Bill O’Leary, Garry Ottmann, , Mark Brough, Roger Duxfield, Alec
McIver (late), Roy Sloan, Steve McFall, Geoff Kerr, Terry Pierson, Carol Watson
Jenny Wotten (Executive Officer), Ben Reddiex (DOC)
Also in attendance: Minister Peter Dunne, Dave Forsyth, Bill Fleury DOC, Elaine Wright DOC, Fraser
Seifert (accompanying Minister)
1. Welcome and Introductions: Don Hammond welcomed everyone to the meeting, spoke about
the Strategic Plan discussion held on 22 February, welcomed Councillors and visitors and
reflected on the Council’s activities during 2014.
Visitors: Kevin Watson
Apologies: Mike Slater, Lou Sanson, Simon Guild - AATH Committee
Motion 5/1: Moved Roger Duxfield/Steve McFall: That apologies be accepted.
CARRIED
Confirmation of Agenda: confirmed
2. Minutes of previous meeting 29 November 2014:
Amendments visitors, Mike Cuddihy, 3a, 8c add McBrearty twice.
Terry asked that Councillors closely scrutinise the draft minutes when they are circulated to
avoid changes during meeting time.
Motion 5/2: Moved Terry Pierson /Geoff Kerr: That the Minutes of the 29 November 2014
Meeting be accepted with agreed amendments and circulated.
CARRIED
Matters arising: Covered under Action Point responses.
3. Action Point Responses –
a. Bill Fleury responded to a question from the Council regarding feedback that they had
received on a different bait type for use with 1080. Garry to try to arrange a
presentation on bait types at a future meeting Action item 5/1.
b. Update by Garry Ottmann and Steve McFall re: SPCA case – hearing held 17 February
2014 and now scheduled for a judge only trial.
c. Alec McIver and Don Hammond provided feedback from Tuhoe on the number of
permits issued and Tuhoe wanting to engage further with the GAC to seek assistance
with the development of Guidelines and a policy for the use of hunting dogs and access
through surrounding private Tuhoe land – Don and Alec to work further with Tuhoe
Action Item 5/2.
d. Action Item 1/15: As a general guiding principle, future Chairs of Working Groups
should come from within Council.
e. Action item 4/11- Bill O’Leary to come back to future meeting with proposals to show
how NZDA will communicate to its hunters how its training course is endorsed by GAC
(eg use of logo on future documentation, press release etc) Action item 5/3.
f. Arising out of Action item 4/14 new Action Item 5/4 Garry Ottmann to provide Safari
Club research report for website (in liaison with Terry Pierson and Geoff Kerr also).
g. Garry Ottmann met with Kevin Crews (TB Free/OSPRI) to discuss how we could move
forward with our relationship. Garry tabled a report covering some of the issues the
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GAC hopes to progress with TB Free/OSPRI in conjunction with the NZ Pig Hunters
Association – refer Action item 3/14.
4. Correspondence and Feedback:
When we are involved in things like making a submission on the Policing Cost Recovery
Amendment Bill then we should put this on our website and issue Press Releases. Action item
5/5 issue Press Release on the Policing Cost Recovery Amendment Bill and arrange for a link on
the GAC website.
A discussion about what issues (Submission process, Select Committees etc) we become
involved with or in. There is a risk that if the GAC doesn’t get involved or have the important
discussions early on then we may not be invited to contribute to later discussions and other
stakeholders will end up driving the process when the GAC is the relevant statutory authority.
Motion 5/3: Moved Alec McIver/Terry Pierson: That inward correspondence be accepted and
outward correspondence be approved.
CARRIED
5. Financial and Administrative Matters
Account balances
Investment on call
Current Account
Nov 25
$100,365.20
$20,553.97
$120,919.17
Plus income
$3048.76
Less expenses (incl investment transfer)
$78,731.01
Balances
Investment on call
Current account
Feb 19
$60,899.42
$20,617.30
$81,516.72
Motion 5/4: Moved Terry Pierson/Roy Sloan: That the financial report be accepted and that
payments made be approved.
CARRIED
Terry Pierson asked that when claiming expenses or reimbursement, Councillors should specify
which Working Groups/Meeting they are claiming expenses for so that it can be itemised and
apportioned. Terry also advised that for the main Council Meetings a lot of futures expenses
will be paid by GAC Credit Card. Terry advised that in the financial report references to PAYE
are actually Schedular payments.
a. Budget: Don spoke about the Budget he had prepared and explained why changes to
the previous draft budget were necessary. The main shift is the proposed appointment
of a part-time CEO (3 days a week) at a full time equivalent salary. It is highly ambitious
to think that the GAC can achieve everything it hopes to achieve in the next 12 months
to 5 years without a paid CEO in place and to deliver on the agreed Strategic Plan. A
realistic budget must be presented to the Minister and be able to make clear workload
commitments for the forthcoming year and outline projected income from trophy and
other levies with a straight forward and robust business plan. The Act requires that the
GAC becomes self-funded, however, we have a seasonal business and we missed the
business income last season due to timing issues. Until such time as the necessary
Regulation is passed the voluntary payment of levy will remain in place and provides a
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pathway for us to begin to develop our financial processes to account for these
payments.
There is considerable urgency to source a suitable CEO to help us implement funding
opportunities as we only have about 3 months funding left. It is apparent that the GAC
does not have the human resources to achieve its responsibilities through volunteers
alone. Action item 5/6 recirculate the Strategic Plan, write a report for the Minister
about what we have achieved over the last few months. See agenda heading 9
Appointment of CEO.
6. DOC Update: Ben Reddiex covered the following points in his reports:
 Community Conservation Partnerships Fund was launched today. The process for
applying for funding was outlined (handout), noting a 6 week expression of interest
period which starts today.
 The Green Ribbon Awards (previously run solely by MfE) are being jointly hosted by the
Department and MfE – Ben is encouraging the hunting sector to apply (there are
awards for protecting our Biodiversity, Green Economy and Community Focus). The
Awards Nights is to be held in early June.
 Battle for our Birds update report Feb 2015 (handout).
 DOC management planning update (handout).
 AATH Code of Practice is with Minister Dunne for his decision on whether to endorse.
DOC Presentation: Bill Fleury presented a short paper (Background to DOC pest management
planning timetable with particular reference to the use of aerial 1080) and maps regarding
future pest management control using aerially applied 1080 and ecological priority areas. Bill
spoke about how the data layers had been recorded and accumulated over the years, actual
and planned Battle for Our Birds Mast response, top ranked biodiversity priority sites where
1080 use is planned or proposed, forest and low producing grassland, TbFree control areas, and
deer distributions. The scale of the maps means that some detail has been compromised when
presented in this way. The maps haven’t been peer reviewed as yet and are therefore subject
to change. Bill gave an overview of projects planned for 2015.
Council discussion about DOC presentation - The presentation was relevant and useful because
it helps Council define issues affecting the establishment of HOSI and help us establish what the
next steps for the Council need to be. Council supports the protection of indigenous species but
without undue loss of deer.
We need to have mechanisms in place for keeping up-to-date with DOC activities, engaging
with them at the appropriate level so that we can use this knowledge to best advantage. The
GAC website could be linked to the DOC website and 1080 operations to make hunters aware.
It is important that the GAC has the ability to provide feedback to the Department. It is
proposed that the GAC will monitor this in conjunction with the NZDA.
Identifying where the first HOSI might be located and how this might be established including
criteria was discussed and needs to be developed further. The discussion concluded that we
need to start differentiating between Herds of Special Interest (HOSI) versus Herds of Public
Interest (HOPI) ie other herds the public have an interest in. The aim of the process from the
GAC point of view is that we are developing a process to identify the herds and the areas where
the GAC has a special interest.
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The Chairman will write formally to DOC (in conjunction with NZDA) requesting a list of the next
12 months planned operations Action item 5/7. Ben Reddiex suggested we connect all the
relevant agencies to participate in the discussion eg: TBFree, DOC, GAC & NZDA.
7. Working Group Reports:
a. Funding Levies – Roger Duxfield circulated a Funding Update. He advised that the
relationship between the NZPHGA and the GAC is good and they are keen to have a
tiered payment system implemented with a discount for GAC registered operators. The
financial components of the funding system have all been set up and Roger provided a
copy of what an Export Levy Certificate might look like.
b. Website/comms/liaison – Steve McFall has revisited and recirculated an up-to-date
report on the Web Links Policy with the aim of eventually having it formally adopted.
Councillors are to provide feedback to Steve and Carol Action item 5/8.
c. Herds of Special Interest (HOSI) – The Working Group report from Geoff Kerr, Garry
Ottmann, Roy Sloan and Mark Brough that was circulated on 19 February is a skeleton
only. It outlines criteria for identifying HOSI, factors which could affect that
classification and management objectives. There is much more work to be done before
we can make a recommendation to the Minister or think about gazetting a particular
herd. The Working Group Report should be considered to be a work in progress that is
not comprehensive at the moment and can change and adapt to different situations.
Councillors were urged to look at the report and provide their comments to Garry as
soon as possible after which the Working Group will look at putting something up on
the website Action item 5/9.
d. Statutory Processes - Geoff Kerr addressed the Statutory Processes Report regarding
the following and there was discussion on each item:
 Most Regional Pest Management Strategies have been obtained
 Geoff Kerr will make a presentation to Regional Councils’ Biosecurity Working
Group on 6 March in Wellington
 the DOC National Park Management Plan template
 revision of the DOC Nelson/Marlborough Conservation Management Strategy
 CAA have agreed to provide plain language guidance on regulations covering
the transport and use of firearms on aircraft
 the GAC submission on the Policing (Cost Recovery) Amendment Bill.
e. WARO - Roger Duxfield and Roy Sloan reported back on WARO following the tabling of
the WARO Report at the last meeting. They haven’t had any feedback yet but the GAC
has had an Official Information Act Request on this. Councillors are to give some
thought as to how we could have a sustainable WARO operation and provide
comments to Roger and Roy asap Action item 5/10.
f. Hunter Training & Education - Carol Watson spoke about her meeting with Marilyn
Bentz from National Bowhunter Education Foundation (NBEF) in Indianapolis, USA
about the possibility of offering their online training course in New Zealand. It would
be relatively low cost to implement with three methods of education and training
available:
 A class based course, approximately 12 hours, including a practical Field Day
 An online course, approximately 6-8 hours plus a practical Field Day (4 hours)
 A completed online course approximately 10-12 hrs.
The purpose of the meeting with Marilyn Bentz was specifically to address the need for
Bowhunting Education as there is currently no bowhunter education on offer in New
Zealand. The online option is seen as particularly appealing to young people. During
the ensuing discussion, Councillors expressed concern that the online training was not
as comprehensive as the NZDA Hunts Program. Councillors are asked to read Carol’s
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full report and get back to her with their comments asap as to whether it would be
feasible for the GAC to adopt or endorse this program Action item 5/11.
In other Hunting and Training areas, Bill O’Leary has accepted an invitation to attend a
Skills Active Conference and asked GAC permission for him to speak as both a GAC
Councillor and as President of the NZDA – approved. Bill will make a report back to the
next meeting Action item 5/12.
8.
Presentation on mammal monitoring component of DOC’s National Monitoring Programme (45
minutes) by Dr Dave Forsyth, Program Leader – Wildlife Management Arthur Rylah Institute,
Department of Environment & Primary Industries, Victoria and Dr Elaine Wright, Manager,
Monitoring & Reporting, DOC. There was a period of discussion following the presentation then
the Chair Don Hammond thanked Dave and Elaine for taking the time to address the Council.
Concern expressed about the inclusion of deer as part of the description of a “Pest” with a request
that the results be modified.
9.
Appointment of CEO: Council discussed the merits of appointing a CEO. The role would be part
time initially. Council would retain its governance role. There was a suggestion that the GAC could
appoint someone on a short term contract initially (3 to 6 months) as there is a limited timeframe
for advertising and interviewing. A key role would be to progress funding options for the GAC.
Motion 5/4: Moved Roger Duxfield/Garry Ottmann: That GAC move forward with appointing a
CEO under a 6 month fixed term contract.
CARRIED
10.
Minister’s Address: The Minister was pleased to receive the AATH Code of Practice and is in the
process of formally endorsing it and instructing DOC to put regulations in place arising out of the
Code. A number of issues were raised by the GAC that were not a formal part of the process and
the Minister will send these back to us and the Department to progress further. The Minister
discussed our other agenda items including the appointment of CEO, the draft budget, the Official
Information Act request.
The levy system was discussed and it was estimated that the NZPHGA voluntary $50 trophy levy
could equate to maybe $100,000pa if there were 2000 trophies exported annually. The Minister
was pleased to hear that the GAC had already made good progress with the development of the
online payments system with links to the GAC website. He was also pleased to hear that the GAC
has been proactively progressing the Strategic Plan and mapping milestones for what it hopes to
achieve over the next 5 years. Chair Don Hammond said that we should have a draft Strategic Plan
for the Minister to look at shortly, to keep the momentum going. Don also thanked DOC and the
Minister for their continued support of the GAC and for the DOC and other presentations which
help Council understand and identify pathways for moving forward with its plans for developing
HOSI criteria.
Don Hammond updated the Minister on other areas such as the Tuhoe collaboration (over 1000
permits issued – issues about private Tuhoe land and hunters with dogs), positive feedback
received to-date and opportunities for further liaison and collaboration on other policies going
forward. The GAC has established itself as the ‘go to ‘ agency to advocate on behalf of hunters
instead of the hunters having to represent themselves individually. The Minister was also advised
that two Councillors have acted as expert witnesses for an SPCA Prosecution for animal cruelty
where the defence is attempting to claim the acts are acceptable hunting behaviour. The final
discussion with the Minister was about wild animal recovery, use of 1080, illegal hunting issues of
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importance to Federated Farmers (poaching – sometimes animals worth thousands of dollars) - Bill
O’Leary will provide the Minister with a copy of the report from police about arms and offences
being committed.
11.
General Business:
a.
Strategic Plan Don Hammond thanked Councillors for their participation in the Strategic
Planning Session held yesterday. The notes will be typed up and circulated Action item
5/13.
b.
Illegal Hunting – Garry Ottmann addressed his report circulated on 19 February in which
he has updated the list of organisations with an interest in illegal hunting. Iwi liaison could
be hard to narrow down as it may involve lots of iwi groups over many areas. The
compliance document needs to be as concise as possible with a clear list of what happens
when a breach occurs NZ wide, not area by area. One solution suggested was a police iwi
liaison officer and it was also suggested that Fish and Game could be added to the list.
c.
Sika Herds of Special Interest – Garry Ottmann was asked by Mark Bridgman from the Sika
Show/Hunters & Habitats to chair an inaugural meeting to discuss the opportunity for
managing the Central North Island Sika herd. The meeting took place in Taupo on 15
February 2015. DOC was also represented at the meeting along with Cam Speedy. It was
agreed to form a steering group to develop the concept, possibly along the lines of a HOSI.
Although the process is ongoing, we might need to formally nominate a GAC participant for
the steering committee and the GAC may receive a proposal requesting that Sika be a
HOSI. Process is ongoing.
d.
Parliamentary Hunts – The Council is developing a proposal to offer the opportunity to
Members of Parliament and their families to try hunting in a controlled and relaxed
environment so that they become more aware of the benefits of the sport to all New
Zealanders. More information will be provided by Garry Ottmann when it is available.
e.
Promotion/Sponsorship – Garry Ottmann spoke about his report previously circulated,
proposing that the GAC separate opportunities into the following two levels (1) national
partnerships with GAC as an overall brand e.g., a national hunter safety program and (2)
individual program partnerships e.g., an individual HOSI program sponsor.
f.
Online Firearm Safety Site: Geoff Kerr presented the paper from Alex Gale about the NZ
Hunter Education website Alex has developed. The online training program is only weeks
away from implementation. The owner is seeking endorsement by GAC similar to the GAC
endorsement of the NZDA Hunts program. As this is a commercial business, Geoff Kerr will
lead a group comprising Bill O’Leary, Carol Watson and Terry Pierson, to come up with a
recommendation and report back to GAC Action item 5/14. Jenny to acknowledge receipt
of proposal Action item 5/15.
g.
General Business other: An interesting development has arisen regarding WARO venison
prices which are currently at a very low level making it uneconomical to aerially hunt deer
with the situation expected to continue into the next season. This will need to be watched
closely as it could lead to aerial hunters targeting stags for their velvet without recovering
the meat. This needs to be taken into account in GAC discussions with DOC – one area
potentially at risk would be the Upper Rakaia.
12.
Next meeting planning: Councillors agreed to review and amend the earlier decision to base
meeting locations around the country alternating between the North and South Island. It is much
more economical to have meetings in Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch as they are the main
areas where Councillors are based and there are more flights into and out of those airports.
Therefore the next meeting will be held in Wellington on 20 April starting at approximately
9.30am and finishing at approximately 4pm. Jenny to invite Gerard Telford to June Meeting
Action item 5/16. Meeting closed 4pm.