NSW shooters MP admits eating elephant during African hunting trip
A New South Wales upper house MP has admitted eating an elephant during a hunting trip to Africa.
Shooters and Fishers and Farmers Member of the Legislative Council Robert Borsak confirmed he had indeed eaten elephant during a debate with Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham on Tuesday.
Mr Borsak had previously admitted killing elephants during a hunting trip to Zimbabwe more than a decade ago, sparking the question from Mr Buckingham.
Mr Borsak had been speaking about “insidious growth of skewed animal rights ideology”.
“I choose to hunt and gather my own meat because it is my right to do so. It is a clean, organic, and sustainable way to live,” he said.
“I choose to cull feral and invasive animals because culling protects our native species and habitats, and I consider myself a responsible and ethical hunter and fisher.”
Mr Buckingham interjected asking: “Did you eat the elephant?” The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP replied, ”yes”.
According to Mr Borsak, he shot the elephant during a hunting trip designed to cull elephants in plague proportions.
He later clarified he had not eaten the animal "in one sitting".
News Corp reported Mr Borsak saying the animals had been killed under careful management because they were causing damage to local crops.
He defended eating its meat, claiming only westerners were prepared to waste good meat, citing kangaroo culls in Australia in which eating the meat was off limits.
"It's sick to shoot and kill an elephant for thrills, and it's revolting that Mr Borsak would eat the elephant," Mr Buckingham said. "He's unfit for office."
The Shooters and Fishers and Farmers party has now hit back at Mr Buckingham, showing the ABC a photograph of the Greens MP eating a sausage at a barbecue.
According to the party, Mr Buckingham's venison sausage came from a deer killed by Mr Borsak during a hunt.
