Background
Carmen Jackson sought judicial review of an approval concerning feral-horse control in Yuraygir National Park and Yuraygir State Conservation Area. The originally anticipated August 2026 operation did not proceed. The Court treated the challenged decision as the 4 September 2026 approval of a pest-management plan and of aerial shooting and other control methods.
Jackson contended that aerial shooting and killing of horses lacked valid statutory authority and would contravene s 45 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NSW). The Secretary relied on the statutory duty to implement the applicable plan of management, authorisations under s 171, and biosecurity directions requiring management and removal of wild horses.
The Court’s Holding
Pepper J dismissed the summons. The Court held that the approval was not made without or beyond statutory authority: s 81 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act, read with the Yuraygir plan of management, authorised and required the Secretary to give effect to the plan’s removal of feral horses. The choice of removal method, including aerial and ground shooting, was an operational matter within the Secretary’s discretion.
The Court also held that the proposed control methods did not breach s 45. Persons undertaking the operations could rely on the Secretary’s deemed authority under s 171(3), applying the Carltona principle, and the evidence also showed that the two proposed shooters held s 171 authorisations. Further, the operations were pursued under duties arising from the plan and biosecurity directions; alternatively, s 386 of the Biosecurity Act 2015 permitted actions authorised or required by a biosecurity direction despite otherwise applicable approval requirements. The requested declaration was both unnecessary and too hypothetical.
Key Takeaways
- A plan of management and s 81 can supply statutory authority for removal of introduced animals from a national park.
- Where a plan does not prescribe a removal technique, the Secretary retains operational discretion over the method used.
- Section 171 authority and biosecurity directions provided independent bases for the legality of the proposed feral-horse control measures.
Why It Matters
The decision confirms that a general statutory duty to implement a park management plan may authorise operational choices needed to achieve its objectives, even where the plan does not expressly list every control method. It also illustrates the interaction between national-parks protections, delegated departmental action, and biosecurity directions in judicial-review challenges.
The Court dismissed the summons and gave the parties 14 days to seek a different costs order; otherwise, each party was to bear its own costs.