Matter of Interest - Native Bird Culling

Extract from Hansard

Legislative Council
14 March 2001

Mike Elliott
Leader Australian Democrats
Member of the Legislative Council

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The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: I address the issue of bird populations and bird culling in the Mount Lofty Ranges. This issue has been with us for the last two summers following the decision of the former environment minister (Dorothy Kotz) to repeal the permit system for culling parrots in the Mount Lofty Ranges. The new minister allowed that to be extended through the most recent summer, and that culling is going on right now. A very conservative estimate suggests that 45 000 native birds were killed in South Australia in 1999-2000, and that is based solely on questions put to 231 fruit growers. It is quite possible that the numbers are much higher, and one would assume that similar numbers have been shot this year.

I am not sure that this is a reliable measure, but I usually have a number of rainbow lorikeets in my garden at this time of year, but this year there are only three or four of them. They are also far more secretive in their behaviour. They usually sit around the edges of the trees but now they are sitting in the core of them, so there has been a modification of their behaviour.

The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: That is anecdotal but, despite the minister's interjection, nobody has accurately assessed the numbers that are being shot. Nobody knew what the bird numbers were before the shooting started, and that is an important point. The minister might not like anecdotal evidence, but there is no evidence other than anecdotal evidence right now as to what is happening to these bird populations.

We cannot be blasé and say that there are large numbers of these birds. Those members who have done some reading might have heard of a bird called the passenger pigeon. In the United States these flocks contained millions of birds, yet they disappeared within 10 years. Because the flocks were so large, it took half an hour for a flock to fly overhead and apparently the whole sky went black because there were so many of them. They disappeared over a 10-year period. It is possible for what seem to be quite numerous bird species to disappear extremely rapidly.

The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: It was shooting that wiped out the passenger pigeon. The minister is not widely read. It is worth noting that a paper was released by Professor Hugh Possingham last year about the populations of animals in the Mount Lofty Ranges. It noted that it is believed that some 50 land bird species currently in the Mount Lofty Ranges are likely to be extinct within the next 20 years or so. So far we have lost only 10, but he predicts that another 50 will be lost. He does that on the basis of the theory of island biogeography and, if members are interested, I can give them a more detailed paper on that.

If there is a series of isolated populations, which is the case in the Mount Lofty Ranges because of the way in which the national parks are set up, there is a real danger that the populations being isolated will inbreed. Another danger for a parrot that lives or breeds in a national park is that, if it happens to leave the park to feed, it will be shot out of the sky. Even without shooting, we could see some 50 bird species disappear.

That is one of the reasons why I was extremely cynical when, on the weekend, the environment minister announced the Mount Lofty Ranges Greater National Park, which did nothing to provide any new protection for any native habitat.

The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: Yes, that is right. I understand that a long-term goal is to bring some SA Water land into national parks. At the moment the public cannot go into SA Water land so it probably has a higher level of protection than the national parks, which we know the government of this state does not mind putting mines into.

The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: The minister was after protection, and that is the major issue. I understand that the parks are to be linked with bicycle tracks and walking paths, so perhaps the parrots can hop on a bike and ride from one park to another, pedal low and try to keep out of sight of anybody with a gun. It was something of a stunt and, if it was not a stunt, the minister could prove it by bringing new land into national parks and causing revegetation work to occur to produce the wildlife corridors that get rid of isolated populations. He should also introduce a program of management of bird species that would include planting species that these parrots usually feed on. Eucalypt flowers provide the usual feed for many of these parrots.