Thread: TB in possums - not many if any

Bear in mind that DoC used those bullshit photo's knowing they were false until knowledgeable public pressure forced them to desist from deliberately misleading the public. Today, it remains a very good example of how they should not be trusted.
For that matter, most of the spin about trappers not being economically viable compared to 1080 poisoning, put out by DoC, the AHB and the PCE is also deliberate misleading of their taxpaying public.

I extracted under an OIA and Ombudsman's Act request, the full analysis of the cumulative averaged costs of the AHB 1080 operations as identified by government contracted independent auditors. The true cost was over $55 per hectare, whereas they have been misleading the public for many years claiming the costs were only in the $10 PER HA RANGE.

The truth is, that if possum trappers were paid this rate per ha, they would be making in the order of $600 per day gross, but even if a trapper only covered 10 ha per day for only half the year he would still gross over $100,000 per year. On top of that he would earn anther $15,000 if he was to take fur from just a single possum per ha. If he caught 5 per ha he would gross an extra $70.000 Potential gross per trapper about $170,000 per annum. On top of that there are the associated benefits of employment, ancillary industries such as the $140million per annum blended wool possum fibre industry and more employment. Of course, the bureaucrats would diminish as would the millionaires who currently suck the 1080 tit at the expense of the taxpayers.
And Smidey old chap, possums can actually be beneficial in moderate numbers in lowland forests as an agent for pollination.

When alternatives are sought, any businessman would first be seeking the REAL costs as a basis for analysis. This basic premise is one which the bureaucrats have studiously avoided revealing to the public and is the main reason trapping has been suppressed. Bloody good on fellows like Time out I say.