The order for the removal of 400 head of cattle from the Victorian Alpine National Park is another example of Labor buckling to the Greens, according to the Nationals Senator for New South Wales John Williams.

Senator Williams said Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke may have made the call, but it was only to appease the Greens Adam Bandt whose support is needed in the lower house.

Senator Williams said for Mr. Burke to demand the cattle be removed by April 8 is simply grandstanding, as the trial was concluding that month anyway.

“Grazing cattle keeps the fuel load down. Once you get 5 tonnes per hectare of fuel, a 40 degree day and a 50kph wind, it is a recipe for a bushfire disaster. We saw it in the tragic Victorian bushfires, but the Greens call it conservation.

They want the cattle out, so are they also going to round up the feral deer, pigs and goats which are also destructive in national parks?

Pictures are circulating of the damage done by the Minister’s convoy when it visited the Dargo High Plains last month. 400 cattle could not have made a bigger mess.

It is time the Gillard Government  stood up for rural Australia rather than fall at the feet of the Greens”, Senator Williams said.