Grigg’s landmark speech - which can be seen as a reversal of his previously held position - was made directly to the killing industry when he addressed the Wildlife Management Society’s 14th Scientific Meeting from December 3-5, hosted at Dubbo, NSW, by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

His views challenge long-held industry beliefs that a single kangaroo’s forage demands are almost equivalent to those of a single sheep (0.7). Grigg has reviewed his position on the basis of “two quite independent and long published studies which .... challenge such assumptions very strongly”. In fact the studies show that the demands of one kangaroo are equivalent to between just 0.15 - 0.2 of a sheep’s. In practical terms this means that the damage on grazing lands attributed to kangaroos has been overestimated by as much as 470 per cent. Stating the obvious, Grigg concludes: “This would mean that kangaroos are a much smaller component of the ‘total grazing pressure’ than is generally accepted.”

Speaking from Sydney, Juliet Gellatley, Director of the UK campaign group Viva!, responded by saying: “This is the final straw which exposes the current commercial slaughter as a cruel, unnecessary, unscientific and devastating blow to Australia’s unique wildlife - exactly as we have always maintained. Like Nero, who refused to face the obvious, the killing industry is continuing to fiddle the truth. This research comes on top of other findings published as recently as July, 2001, by scientists at the University of NSW. They established that kangaroos are not at epidemic proportions, that farm waterholes play no part in increasing kangaroo numbers and that few joeys survive to adulthood. Most depressing of all, they also established that red kangaroos are being destroyed at least three times as fast as they can reproduce. It came on top of other research showing that there is no negative impact of red kangaroos on sheep.

“The killing industry has been protected as if it were as national saviour, supported by a series of myths which no one ever bothers to investigate. The final piece of the jigsaw has now been fitted into place and exposes their claims for what they are - blatant untruths. I challenge the kangaroo slaughter industry to a national debate - one based on reputable science rather than the feeble and greedy excuses of a cruel and profit-driven industry. Wake up Australia, while there’s still time to save your wonderful wildlife.”