ACT has proposed taking responsibility for game animals on conservation land away from the Department of Conservation (DOC) and giving it to the Game Animal Council. Deputy leader Nicole McKee announced the policy at the Hunting & Wildlife Expo on 25 July 2026 (RNZ).

Conservation land is public land looked after by the government for its natural values. Game animals include deer and other introduced species that people hunt.

ACT's conservation spokesperson, Cameron Luxton, said hunting groups already contribute hundreds of hours to conservation work, like maintaining tracks and huts and controlling predators. The party's argument, set out in a policy paper called "Hunters, Not Bureaucrats, Should Lead Conservation," is that hunting itself helps conservation by keeping animal numbers down (ACT Party; Scoop).

The Game Animal Council was set up in 2013 to advise on hunting matters. ACT wants to expand its role and fund it using money currently given to DOC for managing game animals (RNZ).

The policy includes several changes to the law. ACT wants game animals and game birds recognised in law as natural resources to be managed sustainably. Certain herds, like Stewart Island whitetail deer, would be designated as "Herds of Special Interest." The party also wants hunters rewarded for proven conservation results and better access to public land for hunting (RNZ).

ACT also wants infringement offences created for people who interfere with hunts, including using drones and helicopters (RNZ).

The proposal touches on a long-standing tension in New Zealand conservation. Deer and other game animals were introduced to New Zealand and are a recreational resource for hunters. But they also damage native forests by eating young plants and preventing regeneration. DOC currently treats them mainly as pests to be controlled. Hunters, through the Game Animal Council and groups like the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association, have long argued that managed herds can coexist with conservation goals and that local knowledge is being overlooked.

The broader context here is the coalition government. ACT is in government alongside National and NZ First. Conservation policy on public land has always required careful negotiation between different groups with competing interests. Whether this proposal goes anywhere will depend on whether National, the larger coalition partner, is willing to accept a reduction in DOC's responsibilities over species on the conservation estate.