Dear supporters,

Thank you for your continued support and getting us to over 20,000 signatures – we never imagined we would get here, and we are eternally grateful.

Now that we have reached this point with the petition, we wanted to update you on our developing strategy to see immediate change.

With almost 14,000 hives already destroyed by the NSW DPI in eradication zones, and the devastation hitting affected beekeepers hard, in addition to our original demands in this petition we are now also calling the NSW DPI to urgently release the scientific modelling underpinning their policy.

Even though the permanent eradication of Varroa mite has consistently failed across the world wherever it has been attempted, NSW DPI has gone ahead with this drastic strategy without being transparent about their modelling.

Our requests to the DPI to release their modelling have received no response.

The DPI eradication approach and actions on the ground are not practical and do not align with established science on the Varroa mite in relation to its very slow lifecycle and fertility rate, and how it interacts with the climate conditions in Australia.

Beekeepers whose livelihood have been significantly impacted and the wider community deserve to know on what basis the NSW DPI’s extreme actions have been made.

We have added this demand to facilitate a robust public debate and enable government accountability.

Your overwhelming support on this petition demonstrates the community’s outrage at the NSW DPI policy, and the need for it to urgently change.

Please continue to share this petition far and wide as we continue to demand change.

Thank you for your support.

Dolfi and his family