Deputy Premier John Barilaro's ‘brumby bill’ will be debated soon in the NSW Parliament. The bill requires the National Parks and Wildlife Service to protect large herds of feral horses, or brumbies, within Kosciuszko National Park.

In tabling his bill, Barilaro argued the legislation would give long overdue recognition of brumby culture, while avoiding the cruel slaughter of thousands of horses in culls proposed in the Draft Wild Horse Management Plan for Kosciuszko National Park.

A wild brumby in the Kiandra high country, in the NSW Snowy Mountains. Credit:Karleen Minney

But many things in Barilaro's speech are questionable. For example, he overstated the supposed cruelty of culling horses and the cultural importance of keeping horses in Kosciuszko National Park.

Barilaro told Parliament that "culling is cruel and barbaric", citing statistics from Guy Fawkes National Park. But an independent report found that cull was well run and carried out in a humane way. The horses in Guy Fawkes National Park were short of food after fires and some had starved to death. Rapid culling was humane compared with prolonged suffering from starvation.