The NSW Game Licencing unit have released a report into the “Economic Impact of Recreational Hunting in NSW”. The report highlights the social and gross financial benefit hunters make to the economy whilst controlling pest and game animals across NSW.
A survey of 2500 recreational hunters for DPI’s Game Licensing Unit predicts NSW Game Licence holders has added $119 million to the gross state product, and supported 860 jobs since March 2016.
The survey, by Victorian agri-eviro consultants RMGC, estimated each licensed game hunter in NSW contributed an average gross of $6200, while the significantly larger proportion without a game licence – an estimated 207,000 hunters – contributed between $548 and $1.6 billion total and spent between $2700 and $7900 gross on average.
Alex Druce at The Land reported the chair of the Game and Pest Management Advisory Board, Professor Robert Mulley, said the report validated what many hunters already knew: That safe and responsible hunting had the potential to be an economic driver in the regions.
“Small towns like Tumbarumba and Tocumwal come to mind where significant hunting activity for species like deer and ducks is concentrated at certain times of the year,” Mr Mulley said.
“These small towns rely heavily on the steady stream of responsible hunters passing through on their way to State forests or rice fields as they buy fuel, groceries and stay in local hotels.”
The survey found the main expenditure items were hunting equipment (27pc), vehilces (20pc), food and drink (14pc), fuel (13pc), and ammunition (10pc).
Interestingly, 20 per cent of NSW Game Licence holders live in Victoria, with a further 10 per cent spread across the ACT and Queensland. About 70pc are local to NSW.
Comparison with Victoria
In 2013 the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries commissioned the project team to estimate the economic impact of recreational hunting in Victoria.
The GSP impact of expenditure by game hunting licence holders in Victoria was $439m. This is higher than the comparable figure in NSW of $119 for two reasons: there were more hunters in Victoria (45,000 versus 19,000 in NSW), and the expenditure per hunter was more in Victoria ($9,300 versus $5,300 in NSW).
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