Mr BAYLEY (Clark) – Honourable Speaker, I thank the House for this opportunity to talk on this matter of public importance: Tasmania’s wild birds. We all inherently know the incredible value of birds. They’re eclectic, they’re enigmatic, they’re inspirational, they’re engaging. I reckon, without exception, we would all have a favourite bird that grabs our attention and warms our heart, whether it be from the mountains, the incredible currawongs and black cockatoos, the woodland birds like the fairy wren, the shrike thrush, the golden whistler, some of our forest birds like the swift parrot, and the spectacular wedge‑tailed eagle. Of course, front of mind at the moment are our shorebirds and our seabirds, whether it be the oystercatchers, tiny little hooded plovers, the magnificent albatross that you see when you’re on the water. The value of birds is incredible to this state at the human and the personal level. They give us an opportunity to connect with nature and connect with the natural world. That is good for our heart and soul and it’s good for our mental health. It’s incredibly precious.
Ms Badger has spoken in the past about the value of birding, of twitching; the economic and tourism value of people coming here specifically to see our spectacular birds, some of which are endemic here. For me, as a farm boy, I grew up on the land and I had a lot of time with birds. I used to collect eggs and I wanted to be an ornithologist. I never quite made it there, but I do have a lot of respect for ornithologists. Dr Eric Woehler is one of those, and we caught up with him earlier in the week to speak about bird flu. I spent some time with Eric on Cape Barren Island surveying shorebirds, including the white‑fronted tern, one of the listed species which is at high risk from bird flu. We found a nesting pair on Key Island. I want to speak quickly to Eric’s op-ed in today’s Mercury, because it’s a really good contribution. He articulates that:
The greatest concentrations and diversity of seabirds in mainland Australia occur in Bass Strait. The numerous islands support a broad range of seabirds ranging in size from Shy Albatross with a 2.1‑metre wingspan to storm petrels that weigh just 30 ‑ 40g. It would be remarkable if these islands and the seabirds they support were to escape the virus.
We cannot predict where and when the next infected birds will be recorded here in Tasmania. Nor can we predict how many species or individuals will be infected. [Lifted from LinkedIn post, not Mercury]
Eric has articulated a position there and a scientific opinion, but one thing I’m pretty sure that Eric didn’t do is write the headline to his piece ‑ that’s not normally what happens with op‑eds ‑ because the headline reads, ‘All we can do is pray for our beautiful birds’. I know for a fact that that’s not the case, because the government and others are already taking action. We welcome that, and there’s always more we can do. We can do way more than just pray for our birds. I want to thank the government and minister Pearce, for the various briefings, and all government staff, departmental staff, Parks and Wildlife staff, who are at the frontline of this. The briefings have been really useful. In terms of tangible actions we need to take to protect our birds in this heightened era of threat, they are really clear, and scientists are on the record: we need to be protecting habitat. Some of these birds are already threatened by the activities of humans, including the loss of habitat.
We need to be doing things like ending native forest logging. We need to be getting four‑wheel drives off beaches. We need to be making sure dogs are on leads if they’re on beaches or getting them off altogether. We need to ensure wind farms are properly assessed. When it comes to these activities and habitat protection, we need to be taking the precautionary principle and employing the precautionary principle. We need to be stopping threatening activities, and it’s welcome to see the government consider ending crop protection permits for birds like cormorants and black swans. They can and should go further. This is the moment to end duck shooting. There is no excuse for duck shooting anymore. Waterfowl are some of the most vulnerable species to bird flu.
We have an El Niño coming with reduced rainfalls and undoubtedly less inflows into our wetlands. Now is the time to be ending duck shooting, full stop, and gill netting, full stop. Gill netting is an incredibly destructive activity that not only impacts on various fish species, but also bird species, penguins and cormorants and the like. We need to be taking action at this time of heightened threat to these birds. It’s welcome that the government is working on a vaccination program for captive orange‑bellied parrots, but it is not viable to vaccinate every single wild bird. We need to be taking precautionary and protective action.
