Question on Bird Care Society and Native Birds

Extract from Hansard

Legislative Council
31 May 2001

Mike Elliott
Leader Australian Democrats
Member of the Legislative Council

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The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Transport and Urban Planning, representing the Minister for Environment and Heritage, who is also responsible for volunteers, a question about the protection of native birds.

The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: My question relates to the contradiction within the actions of Minister Evans as both minister responsible for the environment and minister responsible for volunteers. This year is the International Year of the Volunteer and, on a number of occasions, Minister Evans has been vocal in his support, including handing out hamburgers at the races a few weeks ago, and I do not think it cost the public all that much. It was with some surprise, then, that I recently received an email from a voluntary organisation devoted to caring for native birds. The email expressed frustration at reaching an impasse with the minister over caring for rescued birds in a responsible manner without risking prosecution by his department. I quote from the email, as follows:

Our society is having a great deal of trouble in negotiations with the Department of Environment over our handling of native birds.

We have been told that we must obey ever-changing and increasingly unreasonable rules that were designed for individual members of the public not for a society such as ours who care for hundreds of native birds. Indeed, had these demands been made with the intention of destroying the service our volunteers provide they couldn't have achieved a more satisfactory result.

That is an email from a voluntary organisation that has had over 22 years of experience rescuing our rare and endangered native birds and returning them to nature. It is the story of a voluntary organisation that cares for birds. In the case it put to me in its email, it feels that it is being strangled by red tape while at the same time agriculturalists have been allowed indiscriminate culling of native birds for two years because of a state government relaxation of bird-culling permits. My question is: what is the minister doing to resolve these issues in relation to this bird care organisation's desire to play an active role in the care of injured native birds without risking prosecution or, as it puts it, being strangled by red tape?

The Hon. DIANA LAIDLAW (Minister for Transport and Urban Planning): I will refer the honourable member's question to the minister and bring back a reply.