New stretch of wild dog fence announced along SA/NSW border

The South Australian and New South Wales governments have signed a deal which will see up to 290 kilometres of new wild dog fencing built along the SA/NSW border.

The Dog Fence Board of South Australia will lead the design and construction of the new section and assume responsibility for its maintenance.

The New South Wales Government said the Board’s experience building and maintaining dog fences across South Australia, as well as their success in reducing wild dogs in the south of that state, makes it the ideal partner to strengthen wild dog management along the border.

Costings of the new section have yet to be revealed, but the announcement has been welcomed by both Livestock SA and Dog Fence Board chair Geoff Power.

SA Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister Clare Scriven said the new work built on the success of the $29m rebuild of 1600 kilometres of the SA dog fence, which has been managed with great results.

"That project alone has already seen more than 30,000 sheep returned to South Australian pastoral stations where wild dogs once made sheep grazing impossible," she said.

"Reducing wild dog pressure directly supports local producers by preventing stock losses, reducing control costs, and improving animal welfare."

Minister Scriven said the SA government looks forward to leading this next stage of the fence project in strong partnership with the state’s neighbours.

South Australian Dog Fence Board chair Geoff Power said the board would oversee both the construction and ongoing maintenance of the fence extension project.

"This extension will strengthen protection for landholders on both sides of the border, helping to safeguard livestock and livelihoods from wild dog impacts."

Mr Power said once completed, the 290km section of fence along the SA/NSW border would be a critical component in advancing SA's Wild Dog Management Strategy to eradicate wild dogs from within the dog fence by 2033.

NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said she was pleased that NSW and SA were building on a legacy of working together over 130 years to address pest management along their shared border.