Skippy’s story skips specifics
colonies – it appears scant at best. Talking with experts and state government officials, the pair find no one has any idea just how many roos there are in ‘‘the lucky country’’.
Then, there’s the flouting of the law around licensed shoots, a practice that could also put humans in danger, plus the hygiene practices around the growing kangaroo meat export market.
Even while Australia is trying to court China, its operating procedures are potentially placing consumers at risk from salmonella and E coli.
But while there are echoes of Fast Food Nation, The Cove and Blackfish in this documentary’s polemic, it actually feels closer in nature to 2016’s Chasing Asylum. It presents an Australia at war with itself, confused about the status of its most enduring emblems. They are used on the country’s national airline, sports teams, and countless tourist souvenirs but are also considered by many to be a pest to be shot, processed and exported.
Kangaroo shows politicians unwilling to deal with that dichotomy, aggressively lobbying foreign legislatures to open up markets, and burying their heads in the sand when it comes to animal welfare concerns (and it’s best not to ask what happened to the emus).
The main concern of one of the directors and their main guide – NSW legislative councillor and Animal Justice Party representative Mark Pearson – has been that the ‘‘management plan’’ legislation hasn’t been updated in more than a quarter of a century.
Pearson joins experts, academics, environmentalists, and wildlife celebrities (Terri Irwin and ‘‘Kangaroo Dundee’’ included) in this clarion call for reform.
With virtually no government officials fronting up don’t expect much of a two-sided debate, but you will be left with plenty to ponder. – James Croot ● Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story opens in select cinemas from July 19.