Nationals Member for Northern Tablelands Brendan Moylan has welcomed news virtual fencing has been legalised in NSW.
Virtual fencing systems allow farmers to confine and move animals without physical fences using GPS, wireless, and sensor technology.
A parliamentary inquiry into the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment (Virtual Stock Fencing) Bill 2024 recommended, in October last year, the NSW Government legalise virtual fencing for commercial use.
Mr Moylan backed the recommendations to legalise the technology following the inquiry, and said he was pleased the NSW Government had seen sense and moved to legalise it.
“Legalising virtual fencing in NSW is a no-brainer,” Mr Moylan said.
“It has enormous benefits to agriculture as well as to the land and environment through easier pasture management, protecting sensitive environments, and monitoring animal health, and it makes moving stock during major weather events much easier.
“Thursday’s decision to legalise virtual fencing in NSW will be hugely beneficial for farmers and their livestock management.
“The technology allows for far more productive and effective farming practices with the ability to move stock around large properties without the need to build fences.
“It will lower fencing costs, protect biodiversity, reduce stock handling, and improve grazing accuracy.
“It is great to see the government listen and get on board with this technology.”
NSW Farmers has also welcomed the news.
“This technology has been a game changer not just in other parts of Australia, but around the globe, and it’s high time we got on board,” NSW Farmers’ Animal Welfare Committee Chair Rob McIntosh said.
“This technology gives us flexibility we’ve never had before – we can graze and move stock without building kilometres of fences and laneways, and we can also easily move these virtual fences to help manage our livestock and our land.”
