A post by John Tingle on the Shooters Party website:

***

Thought you might enjoy this one. There are some sensible Ministers in the Government:

Question Time Legislative Council, 24 October 2007

WILDLIFE MEAT CONSUMPTION

The Hon. ROBERT BROWN: In directing my question to the Minister for Primary Industries, I emphasise the word "primary". Is he aware that the London Daily Mail newspaper has quoted a report commissioned by Greenpeace claiming that Australians can dramatically reduce their carbon footprint by eating more local wildlife, namely kangaroos? Is he also aware that kangaroo meat is low in cholesterol and fat and high in protein, iron and zinc, and helps to reduce blood pressure? As the Minister responsible for the marketing of kangaroo meat, as the main supporter of the kangaroo industry, and as a supporter of reducing greenhouse emissions, will he make representations to the Presiding Officers to have this healthy organic food reintroduced to the dining room menus at Parliament House, thus reducing global warming?

The Hon. IAN MACDONALD: The Honourable member has asked me an excellent question. I must say that when kangaroo meat was first put on the menu, I had a taste of it and I thought it was pretty good.

The Hon. Duncan Gay: Ian Armstrong did that.

The Hon. IAN MACDONALD: He does a lot of good things and that was particularly good because honourable members should realise that kangaroo meat has a lot of good health qualities and is low in fat. I support any effort by members to have kangaroo meat returned to the menu. I am highly surprised that the Greens were able to have it taken off. How outrageous! It just shows how out of touch the Greens are when Greenpeace argues that more of our kangaroo meat should be consumed.

The Hon. Tony Kelly: It may help with climate change.

The Hon. IAN MACDONALD: The added advantage of kangaroo meat is that it does not contribute as highly to climate change as does beef production. The quicker this issue is addressed, the better. I am sure that the President and the Presiding Officer in the other House will be able to get their heads together and sort this out for us. We want kangaroo meat back on the menu at Parliament House, or at least we want the opportunity to have it, and if the Greens do not want to eat kangaroo meat, there are plenty of alternatives for them to eat, such as mung beans, lentils and vegetarian pasta. Let us have kangaroo meat back on the menu at Parliament House. I make the offer to hold a barbecue very shortly featuring kangaroo meat and other forms of Australian natural product.

The Hon. Michael Costa: Wombats too!

The Hon. IAN MACDONALD: No, no, no! I will ban the Treasurer because I am sure he will turn up with one of those road kill cookbooks of Peter Black, the former member for Murray-Darling. We will not be having any of that! This will be a sensible approach to the issue for people who want to taste a real bit of Aussie cuisine. Let me make it very clear that in this State kangaroo culling is conducted with integrity and is carried out under very strict supervision in accordance with the National Parks and Wildlife Act.