RIPPLES AND INTERCONNECTING THREADS

In life, we often underestimate the power of seemingly small moments and connections, not realising how they can ripple outwards, shaping our paths and providing interconnecting threads in ways we could never imagine. The life and efforts of Peter Stuart, a man much respected in the Australian Deer Association community, exemplify this concept. Although I had only met Peter a couple of times, I found him a congenial and lovely man. However, I had not known just how profoundly his life's work had influenced mine…until I read the ADA press release on Peter’s death.

Peter’s impact on deer management in Australia is well documented but, for me, his influence came through an unexpected thread. It was because of Peter connecting with Joe Hamilton, the man who started the Quality Deer Management Association in the USA, that Brian Murphy, a young American wildlife biologist, came to Tasmania in the early 1990s. A chance meeting with Brian outside the library in the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife office in Hobart would change the course of my life. At the time, I was pursuing a Masters degree, but Brian’s insights sparked a shift in my thinking. Encouraged by our conversation, I changed my path to an Honours degree project focused on deer biology and management in eastern Tasmania under the supervision of the Tasmanian Deer Advisory Committee.

This decision led me to continue my studies in Charles Sturt Uni in Albury. At that time, I was a Park Ranger on about $24,000 a year, and the pursuing of the Honours degree project was going to cost me about 15% of my annual income for two years. It was a bit of a challenge to complete, both financially and family-wise, but it was worth it. I learnt a lot from Brian Murphy, a young guy mature way beyond his years at the time.

Continuing with the ripples and interconnecting thread theme…while at CSU in Albury writing up my Honours project, I crossed paths with Dr Johannes Bauer. Johannes is an ecologist and deer researcher at Charles Sturt University who twigged that I was sleeping on the floor under my desk in the Honours student area to finish and submit my thesis because I couldn’t afford a hotel room. He kindly offered to let me camp in his house in Albury as he had recently moved to the central west of NSW to take up a job at the CSU campus in Orange, and hadn’t sold his place yet. Johannes would eventually introduce me to Robert Brown. That connection, in turn, opened the door for me to work with the NSW Game Council. What a hell of a wild ride that job was for ten years! But it did lead to the opening up of State Forests in NSW to hunting under the R-licence system.

In 2014 as the result of pure NSW Liberal Party politics the Game Council was scrapped and the stress of it all led me to moving into biosecurity. This led to me working on a biosecurity response in the NT and then moving up there in 2015. While in the NT I got involved with and became a board member of the NT Firearms Council then finalised and got over the line the Back Country Hunting Program. This is a system for hunting in Litchfield National Park, modelled on the NSW R-Licence system. I ran it for the next seven years and it is still going strong today.

My time in the Territory was a hell of an adventure. I worked with indigenous rangers in remote areas on biosecurity, then worked in NT Fisheries for six years and learnt a lot about principles applicable to hunting and game management as well as going out on observer (fishing) trips around the NT coastline and up to Timor Reef on the border with East Timor. I then moved into the Northern Land Council (NLC), developed their indigenous ranger compliance training and took up a Borroloola/Barkly-Victoria River Regional Coordinator role managing ranger groups across the Savannah Way from Doomadgee in Queensland to Kununurra in WA. I saw some incredible country and got to visit some very special sites with traditional people.

One day I was pulling into the NLC house at Borroloola when I got a call from my old Game Council Chairman, Robert Borsak, who is now a member of the Legislative Council in NSW for the Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party. He said he had a Secretary/Research Assistant job in NSW Parliament. “Was I interested?” Now working in NSW Parliament couldn’t have been further from what I was then currently doing in the NT. While I was talking to Robert some wild horses wandered past the back of house, some aboriginal kids were kicking a footy in the red dust of the street out the front, and a couple of camp dogs were fighting over kangaroo leg.

Was I interested? Hell yeah, I was! Two weeks later I was flying down to Sydney to catch the last sitting week of the year and do my Parliamentary Services induction. I am still working for Robert Borsak in Parliament and love the job. All of my experiences in hunting, shooting, working in parks, biosecurity, fisheries and with indigenous people give me a great background and possibly a unique perspective to bring and contribute to the Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party in the Legislative Council of NSW…but I am looking forward to retirement in March 2026!

Thanks for sticking with me on this journey down memory lane. These seemingly unconnected moments can be traced back to Peter Stuart’s efforts to bring Joe Hamilton and subsequently Brian Murphy to Australia, a testament to how one individual’s dedication can create ripples that reach far beyond what anyone might expect.

Peter Stuart was not just a leader in deer management and conservation; he was a thread woven into the lives of many, shaping careers, inspiring change, and leaving a legacy that continues to influence our community. His life is a reminder that the work we do, the people we meet, and the opportunities we create can intertwine in ways we may never fully comprehend. For those of us who enjoy hunting, his contributions to sustainable deer management in Australia are just one part of the profound impact he has had.

Even if we only met him briefly, Peter’s legacy touches many of us, shaping our understanding of conservation, our passion for hunting, and our careers. He reminds us that the threads we weave today may one day become the tapestry of someone else’s journey. In the end, Peter Stuart's life reminds us that the ripples we create and the threads we spin have the power to shape lives, guide destinies and build a lasting legacy in ways that stretch far beyond the present moment, and I thank him for it.