Protecting Biodiversity for the Future Bill 2014 (Passed) (user search)

There are multiple. I am happy to refine the language to make it more specific.

Without any question, the presence of invasive, pest or feral species are one of the biggest drivers of biodiversity degradation. It's estimated that their presence can impact the economy by billions each year.

I'll give you some examples. In Guam, 12 species of birds, than have a key role in the natural pollination process of a number of native plant species, have been made extinct by the presence of the brown tree snake. At present their further introduction is controlled by screenings of all incoming ships. But this process is expensive and the only current way of dealing with this out-of-control population of snakes, is baiting. This is not ideal and work needs to be done to find a way to not only manage the introduction of further snakes, but reduce the existing snakes and put in place measures to re-introduce bird species.

The zebra mussel - was originally spread through ballast water from ships in the Great Lakes. It is believed there is a direct correlation between these animals and avian botulism... this them impacts and has a negative impact on the native food chain. A lot of work has been done to manage this through manual inspections of shipping. But again, this is labor and resource intensive.

This also links to the issue of land management. Now, I understand some may think that the Government has no right to tell someone what they can and cannot do with the land. However, in rural and remote areas, one of the greatest risks to biodiversity across the nation is poor stewardship. One thing I can tell you from my own experience in this issue is that for a pest species, either flora or fauna to thrive, is to be left alone. Poor land stewardship is a genuine and serious problem and the regions need to apply more pressure to land-holders to ensure that they are not only doing the right things for themselves, but for their neighbours and their communities.

We also need to take more account of the impacts of human settlements in areas currently under biodiversity stress. Now, this means limitations on where people build. It's easy to dismiss as an "environment v the economy" thing. But it's not. At a time when we're debating the protections for farmers, too often we forget that farming is one of the biggest victims of poor environmental management.

I would argue to Senator Cassius that section 2 is strong, because it needs to be. The production of these products have wreacked havoc on the planet's most vulnerable species. Poaching of rhino horn and elephant tusk has devastated stocks in Africa to the point that there are believed to be six living white rhinos in the world, not six-hundred, not sixty... but six. The collapse of the tiger population across Asia is also directly linked to the poaching and by-product industry. Not only have these industries obliterated entire species and are on the cusp of doing so to more, they are often done in the most cruel of fashions. Locking a sun-bear in a cage with a permanent wound in its belly to collect bile, catching sharks, cutting their fins off while still alive then pushing them back into the sea without the capacity to swim or hunt, they slowly starve to death.

Also Senator Cassius, no one is saying that Grey Wolves should be released across the country to roam as they once did. But the reality is, for vast parts of this country, they are a natural part of the eco-system. And it should be down regional knowledge and interest to do that properly.

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