Victoria's brumby cull will go ahead, court rules

Philip Maguire, who owns land adjacent to the national park, appealed last month's court ruling that rejected his objections and allowed the culling of horses to go ahead.

Chief Justice Anne Ferguson said yesterday the appeal had been rejected and reasons for the decision would be published next week.

Mr Maguire's barrister Anthony Strahan argued that Parks Victoria was obliged to go to the public before deciding to cull the brumbies.

"In this sort of area in particular, where you have public land that is being managed for the public with diverse groups of stakeholders, it is very, very important to the process that people are brought into the process," he said.

Mr Strahan argued the trial judge made an error when he ruled Parks Victoria did not have to engage on each decision it makes, but did not say what the organisation should have done instead.

The argument was critical of Parks Victoria's 2016 consultation on a plan that stated brumbies would not be shot for the next three years, but it would be considered after that point.

"You can't test public sentiment by asking the public about something you're not planning to do," Mr Strahan said.

Parks Victoria's barrister Jason Pizer said the trial judge was right to rule Mr Maguire did not have standing to make an application to stop the culling of feral horses because his connection was only an "intellectual or emotional concern".

He said Mr Maguire was "vague and non-specific" about how brumbies improved the amenity of his land and reduced fuel loads, and was no different to any other member of the public.

"There is no evidence as to the number of horses said to graze on the applicant's land," he said.

"There is no evidence to suggest that the feral horses that were said to contribute to the amenity of the applicant's land, being the Bogong brumbies, frequented the areas of highest conservation concern and feral horse impacts."