“Members have had to resort to extra security measures at home at their own expense, lying to friends, family and associates about what they do for Parks and what it entails, keeping a low profile and retreating from other community roles.”

According to that submission, some staff believe that the threats are not taken seriously by police. It calls for the “morally, socially and legally unacceptable behaviours of feral horse activists” to be publicly decried.

Loading

Whatever view the police take, ever since the 2014 murder of Glen Turner, a compliance official with the state’s Office of Environment and Heritage by an aggrieved landholder, workers take threats seriously.

Under the previous government, John Barilaro, former deputy premier, Nationals leader and MP for Monaro, backed calls from pro-brumby activists for some horses to be protected in the national park on “heritage grounds”, despite evidence that without effective culling their numbers were rising rapidly, along with the damage they were doing in the fragile environment.

It is estimated there are 19,000 horses in the national park and the federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has warned they may prove to be the “crucial factor that causes final extinction” of 12 threatened species.

But there are signs the politics of the debate has shifted.

New NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe’s first act in office was to fly over the park to see the damage.

On Wednesday, she raised the issue in NSW parliament, admitting that authorities were not keeping up with the spread of the animals.

“The impact cannot be ignored. The horses are too many and they are causing significant damage and we need to make sure that it is addressed as soon as possible. The Wild Horse Management Plan requires the horse population to be reduced to 3000 by June 2027,” she said in response to a Dorothy Dixer.

“Currently this target is not on track to be met. In fact, horse numbers have been increasing. I note that NSW National Parks and Wildlife staff are doing all they can. They have increased the rate of removal while meeting welfare standards and safety standards, but achieving the target will be a big challenge in that vast rugged landscape.”

Tellingly, she also addressed the abuse the rangers doing this difficult work faced.

“I want to place on record that the staff have in recent times been on the receiving end of behaviour from a small number of members of the community that is absolutely unacceptable and I want to make it clear that the NSW government has zero tolerance for harassment or threats directed towards any public officials.

“As Minister for the Environment I want to reinforce that we absolutely have zero tolerance for any harm, or any threats that are made, to national parks officers or their families when they are going about their work that we ask them to do.”