News Digest

Hunters to pay $24,000 to hunt giant crocs to fund Aboriginal communities

Crocodile trophy hunts could be introduced in northern Australia to raise funds for Aboriginal communities. Big game hunters are expected to pay as much as Aus$30,000 ($24,000) to shoot a saltwater crocodile - arguably nature’s most terrifyingly efficient killing machine. Last year, the government refused to make crocodile safaris legal, with environment minister Greg Hunt calling them “cruel and inhuman”. Now, indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion has called for them to be given the go-ahead in the Northern Territory.

This is about science, there’s no difference from crocodiles and flathead (fish) - obviously apart from size and teeth.

Indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion

He said Aboriginal communities should be allowed to sell permits to shoot a small number of saltwater crocodiles that would otherwise be culled each year. Saltwater crocodiles - or “big salties” - have become a major tourist attraction in the Northern Territory as their numbers have grown. They were declared a protected species in 1971, but now more than 500 are culled every year to protect the public and livestock.

It’s a great opportunity because it brings about economic development and employment opportunities for indigenous people.

Bess Price, Northern Territory’s minister for parks and wildlife