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Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

Just curious: Where do rabbits fit in here? I've heard they're rather unpopular, too!

Yes you are quite correct Mr 40. The poms bought rabbits to Australia to provide game. They also bought sparrows, those pesky dirty little birds. It was an endeavour to have Australia "just like home".
yes rabbits have caused vast areas of erosion. Perhaps secondary they eat pasture which would otherwise be eaten by profit producing livestock.
At this moment they are somewhat under control with the introduction of Calisivirus. Earlier it was myxomatosis but gradually rabbits became tolerant to that. It will probably happen, in time, that they will become tolerant to Calisi as well. I remember flying low level in South Australia and watching about 150 yards in front of the aeroplane and seeing rabbits by the hundreds run for their burrows. It's been some time since I flew there but last trip didn't spot a single one.
One can find historical film of catching rabbits by the thousands. Rabbit proof fences were erected. Then it was dog or dingo fences. Now there's areas of cat proof fences to allow the small native animals to breed. It looks successful but encompasses only small areas.
copied from the internet, below-

Within a number of years, those 24 rabbits multiplied into millions. By the 1920s, less than 70 years since its introduction, the rabbit population in Australia ballooned to an estimated 10 billion, reproducing at a rate of 18 to 30 per single female rabbit per year.Mar 8, 2018