AUSTRALIA'S FAUNAL CRISIS

An inquiry into 's Faunal extinction crisis including the wider ecological impact of faunal extinction, the adequacy of Commonwealth environment laws, the adequacy of existing monitoring practices, assessment process and compliance mechanisms for enforcing Commonwealth environmental law, and a range of other matters.

These are fundamentally matters of which the Commonwealth should be aware.

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

This submission by Andrea Hylands and Peter Hylands to the Environment and Communications References Committee discusses the role of Australian Governments in creating Australia's Faunal extinction crisis. The introduction (part one) outlines the broader Australia issues, given the need for brevity, we focus our comments on the conduct of the Victorian Government in these matters (part two). What occurs in Victoria is not dissimilar to other states and territories. We summarise the key actions required from this submission in part three of this document.

About

Andrea Hylands Film maker and ceramic artist, former senior lecture in Ceramic Design at Monash University, former President of Craft Victoria. Andrea’s work has been collected around the world in both major public and private collections and she holds many international awards for her work including in Japan, India, USA, France, Korea and Italy including best contemporary film, FIFAV Montpellier, 2010; Gold Medal, Faenza, Italy 2005 and the Grand Prix, Vallauris, France 1992. Since 2005 awards from the digital world include multiple awards from the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (New York); Government of Madhya Pradesh, India, European web awards (for work on Brexit) and as a finalist for the United Nations Association online media awards.

Peter Hylands Nearly 50 years of developing knowledge-based content around the world for education, including for professionals in law, medicine and management, for cultural institutions and the general public. His interest is the development of the knowledge economy. He has been a long-term senior executive for a top 100 British company, author and researcher, combining knowledge of international management practice, business development, economics, science and how these things interact with the natural world. Peter has extensive knowledge of the Australian Continent.

“Our work now focuses on two things, firstly connecting cultures around the world to improve understanding and outcomes for our human society, particularly the young, and secondly describing the impact and outcomes of current human conduct on the natural world, doing so through the production of knowledge based content. Culture and nature are related of course”.

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Andrea and Peter Hylands regard Australia as a unique and wondrous continent, both precious and beautiful. Australia is its nature and extraordinary cultures grown from deep time. We simply cannot destroy these things because we have a duty to future generations not to do so. We are writing this because we care and we are writing this from direct knowledge and experience of these matters over many decades.

Top line issues regarding management of Australia's Faunal extinction crisis

The first thing to understand is that all of Australia’s species are on the same journey. We either recognise wild Australia or we lose wild Australia. All that is Australian is being lost, through land clearing, the impact of invasive species, changing fire regimes, industrial scale agriculture, development, energy policy and climate change, pollution and waste management (particularly plastics, herbicides, pesticides and pollution from resource developments, abandoned or otherwise) and the interaction and policies of local, state and commonwealth governments in relation to these matters. Of great concern, propaganda and misinformation about Australia’s species is a growing problem and a threat to species survival.

Intentional or not, in most landscapes Australia’s native fauna is being replaced by from somewhere else. Soft feet have been replaced by hard hoof. The loss of topsoil on agricultural and other lands and the damage done by growing areas of salinity, troubled river systems and dying ecosystems are all a direct result of poor policies over long periods of time. Animals do not survive these conditions.

Most landscapes have been changed beyond recognition from what they once were and many landscapes, even if they retain some degree of native vegetation, are missing the species that once thrived in them. Fauna needs flora as flora needs fauna. Australia’s plants and animals are adapted over a long period of evolution to survive in very distinctive conditions. Even where flora has survived, fauna may no longer be present.

Car journeys through outback NSW and Qld describe the issues relating to land clearing. These vast landscapes now cleared are also empty of life and economic activity. Large areas of this land are now badly eroded. Before even more land is cleared we should ask ourselves is this how we will produce food in the future, is this really what future farming should look like? The answer to this question is no.

Government policy in relation to the care of biodiversity for future generations across Australia’s states and territories can be summarised as inconsistent, both in terms of funding and in terms of geography. We won’t go into the details here but the committee will be aware of these matters. These are matters that should be explored further by the inquiry.

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In terms of geography and policy differences, Buffel Grass and Brumbies are examples of invasive species that are having a very significant impact in endangering Australian animals and are classic examples of inconsistencies between state and territory policies. In the former case SA and the NT, in the later NSW and Vic. Classification of the of species by commonwealth, state and territory governments is inconsistent and not without its political influence, we understand there is a geographical dimension here in relation to the distribution of species, however this remains a critically important issue. It is a fundamental principle that nature should be beyond politics. This is not the case in Australia where political influence over such things as the conservation status of species is evident.

Denial of climate change is cruel on the farming community, cruel on farm animals and devastating for wildlife, including vulnerable, threatened and endangered species. This is because denial destroys the opportunity for proper strategic planning opportunities. Droughts also drive further land clearing, ‘cutting scrub’ and the ‘removal of woody weeds’, add even more land clearing to the extraordinary amount of annual vegetation loss which the nation and Australia’s fauna can least afford. There is a vicious cycle of decline here. People no longer understand what their landscapes once looked like, nor is there any understanding of what these landscapes once contained.

Nature’s infrastructure, its ecosystems are critically important to species survival. There are serious conflicts of interest regarding both the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Artesian Basin, about each of which we have raised concerns over decades. Poor thinking and policy making in relation to these two critically important natural assets are neither helpful to business or the survival of already vulnerable fauna. The death of the Great Barrier Reef is not only about the death of coral, it takes with it a vast array of other species. If the current pathways are followed there will only be one outcome (or should we say two) resulting in dire economic and environmental consequences. The Commonwealth Government has a clear choice in these matters. The choices being made about both national assets appear to be extremely poor.

There must be a consistent national approach to Australia’s environment and the native species that depend on its ongoing health. It is now evident that the matters discussed here are far beyond the capacity of the states and territories to manage and are fundamentally a national issue of extreme significance to the future wellbeing of all Australians, hominid or otherwise.

Our view is that Australian governments do not act in the interest of the general public in these matters but are mostly influenced by lobby groups supporting narrow industry outcomes, detrimental to the many and beneficial to the few. There are clear conflicts of interest here and the employment practices, departmental culture, training, education and management of staff within various government departments in matters concerning the environment need to be reviewed. There is a loss of ‘corporate’ knowledge in at least some departments.

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The nation has been consistent in following its pathway towards Australia's faunal extinction crisis. The current circumstances relating to Australia’s precious wildlife have been long in the making and few, if any, lessons have been learnt on this journey.

What is it like out there?

Much of the year (2018) has been spent on remote journeys in the NT.

Diary notes on nature - Northern Territory: We have spent about five weeks this year in the Western Arrernte country (Central Desert). We travelled extensively with Aboriginal friends mostly in remote places – we saw two Euros on one hill crossing. All the small from here disappeared in the 1930s. Worryingly, although it was late in the season there were very few reptiles and no goannas. On the Larapinta Drive circuit, now a tourist route so there is quite a lot of traffic, not a single dead of any kind. Not even a Kangaroo. What we see is lots of horses, donkeys, cattle – no Australian wildlife. In most places the ground is covered by hoof marks. Here the Mala now only exists behind the wire fence.

On a subsequent journey across the top end through very remote regions, driving 3,000 kilometers (crossing through 28 rivers and wetlands in each direction, cane toad country) through Arnhem Land and back west to Peppimenarti. A journey of some weeks working on route. Peppimenarti, this is country in the north west of the NT, tropical and remote. 7 or 8 Antilopine Kangaroos in a mob. No small mammals, all the goannas are gone. Aboriginal people report this. This is now cane toad country. We see buffalo (which make working remotely very dangerous), numerous horses, this is also pig country. Parts of the vast Peppi floodplain look as if they have just been ploughed, this is the work of feral pigs. Feral animals destroy the food plants of the local people.

Back in Arnhem Land on one of many visits and Ankabadbirri. All the small mammals are gone – Aboriginals report all goannas gone. There are reports that Merten’s Water Monitor is still around but we do not see any – we used to see a lot. We were here when the cane toads came through about ten years ago, our Redweleng friends deeply distressed by that event. We see one Antilopine Kangaroo and two . We see numerous horses and buffalo, there are pigs here too. The edges of the billabongs in the Arafura Swamp are trampled by buffalo, bad for birdlife, pigs raid the birds nests. We spend two weeks with elders recording sacred stories in language to capture the material for future generations of Aboriginal people. Embedded in one of these stories, and this is typical from other places, the old men talk about the kangaroo fire drives when they were young. There were many Kangaroos. Not any more. After 60,000 years there are no more drives. Not a single emu on all these northern journeys.

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PART TWO: SPECIFICALLY VICTORIA

In part two of this submission we describe the interaction between Victorian Government politicians and its departments including the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and others. These comments do not constitute a criticism of any particular individual or political party. Regardless of which party is in power, actions and outcomes are broadly similar.

The prima facie case is this: • Wildlife in Victoria is becoming easier to kill (the analysis of data tells this story) given the current attitudes surrounding the issuing of ATCWs (Authority to Control Wildlife) and relatively lax approach to prosecutions; and • The process in relation to rescuing wildlife is becoming ever more vexed given the efforts of the Victorian Government to make this process increasingly difficult. Despite denials from the Government in relation to this conduct, there is plenty of evidence of this, both written and in the field.

The processes of killing wildlife, most sanctioned by the Victorian Government, who are actively involved in promoting and/or defending all but one of these processes, which also impact endangered, threatened and vulnerable species, are as follows:

• Unauthorised killing of wildlife: Likely to have been the most common type of wildlife destruction. This takes various forms, which include killing of wildlife by landholders, vandalism and acts of cruelty towards wildlife and so on. Two cases among thousands over the years are the recent discovery of the poisoning of 136 Wedge-tailed Eagles Aquila audax at Tubbut and a further four at the Black Range Forest near Yea. • Victorian Government sanctioned killing of wildlife: Authority to Control Wildlife (ATCWs). What follows are some basic calculations which broadly describe the impact of government actions on Australian species. The numbers are to describe trend. For the period 2009 to 2017 - 27,893 ATCWs were issued covering 1,282,761 animals (only Australian species are included here). The average number of permits issued each year for the period 2009/10/11 was 2,410, for the last three years, that is 2015/16/17 the yearly average had risen to 3,919 permits. For the number of animals authorised for ‘control’ the average number for each year for the period 2009/10/11 was 95,918, for the last three years, that is 2015/16/17 the yearly average had risen to 204,594 animals, the number more than doubling in the period. Comparing the years 2011 and 2017 the number of animals subject to ATCWs rose from 80,368 to 244,303, thus tripling over the period. • Commercial trade in wildlife: A growing sub-section of the above. • Killing experiments: Experiments on wildlife by government agencies for profit under exemptions to Commonwealth Environmental laws. These are among the most perverse and disgraceful acts of killing wildlife

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in Victoria and beyond. There are numerous examples, a recent example is from Bendoc in the north east of Victoria and involves experiments on the whose population in Victoria, because of government logging activity in its habitats, has ‘crashed disappearing from some areas where it once thrived’. It is of course not only Greater Gliders that die but everything else that cannot escape the destruction of habitat. • ‘Off-piste’ killing of wildlife or government sanctioned killing of wildlife outside the ATCW system: Possibly describes attempts to conceal a controversial cull such as is likely to be the case for the 686 Koalas killed in the region surrounding the Great Ocean Road. This killing will also include 'collateral damage' from development, land clearing and forestry operations including fire regimes such as burning off. Little or no account is taken of wildlife in these situations. • Killing of declared species of wildlife so they are unprotected in a specified area: (Actions under section 7A of the Wildlife Act, the Victorian Minister can recommend to the Governor in Council to declare a species of wildlife unprotected in a specified area). Species currently subject to ‘unprotection orders’ are in place for the Common or Coarse-haired Wombat Vombatus ursinus, which is no longer common, and is killed in certain parishes of Victoria without the need to apply for a permit (this in addition to the Victorian Government's issuing of ATCWs to approve the killing of 22,677 in the last 9 years), the Trichosurus vulpecula living in buildings and municipal parks, the Dingo Canis lupus dingo on or within a certain distance from private land and three otherwise long lived parrot species, the Long-billed Corella Cacatua tenuirostris, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita and the Galah Eolophus roseicapilla. • Killing for sport and ‘entertainment': Extraordinary numbers of native animals are killed each year in violent and pointless activities such as Victoria’s annual duck hunting season (which also draws in the native Stubble Quail Coturnix pectoralis), an activity which, alone, kills and injures many hundreds of thousands of waterbirds each year. This activity is poorly supervised throughout the ‘season’ and places at risk other endangered and critically endangered species including the iconic Australasian Bittern Botaurus poiciloptilus.

How Australian animals become extinct

What follows in this section describes the consequences of Victorian Government actions on species not listed and described as common by its department. This is an extract from a recent letter from us to the Minister, Hon Lily D’Ambrosio and senior department managers, which was a call to action to help two species in Victoria.

“Not to do so would constitute matters of grave concern in the department’s capacity to remediate situations relating to species survival in Victoria, particularly when these matters are so self evident.

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Red Kangaroo rufus: Our own records and research on the history of this species show that as recently as 2000 your own department put the population of Macropus rufus in Victoria at 6,000 individuals and fluctuating around that number because of seasonal conditions, (then the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE). Parliament of Victoria - Environment And Natural Resources Committee, Inquiry into the Utilisation of Victorian Native Flora And Fauna June 2000 - No 30 Session 1999/2000 VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTER 2000). We have also done some calculations relating to your recent Macropod ‘harvest’ species survey, which also show very low populations of Macropus rufus in Victoria. The recent history of the department use of ATCWs in relation to the species and Macropods generally is described in the following paragraph.

In 2017 the Victorian Government issued 2,841 Authorities to control wildlife (ATCWs) to ‘control’ 189,000 Kangaroos excluding their dependent young. That is 161,000 Eastern Grey Kangaroos, 12,568 Western Grey Kangaroos and 15, 187 Red Kangaroos. The number of Kangaroos subject to ATCWs in 2011 was 34,721 comprised of 33,539 Eastern Grey Kangaroos, 1,162 Western Grey Kangaroos and 20 Red Kangaroos. So the number in 2017 is 5.44 times greater than the number in 2011. In addition, in 2017 the Victorian Government issued 125 ATCWs for two species of to ‘control’ 1,154 animals. In 2017 DELWP issued just 10 ATCWs (a measure of their narrow distribution) to ‘control’ 15,187 Red Kangaroos, in 2011 they issued 3 ATCWs to control just 20 Red Kangaroos. So for the Red Kangaroo the 2017 number subject to ATCWs was a staggering 759 times the 2011 ‘control’ target.

Coarse-haired Wombat Vombatus ursinus. As you know the species is in difficulty because of the impact of Sarcoptic Mange, which is very serious and causes very significant suffering before the animal dies. In the period 2009 to 2017, the Victorian sub-species has also been subject to 1,776 ATCWs covering 22,677 animals. In addition to this Vombatus ursinus is a ‘declared species of wildlife’ so the species is unprotected in 193 parishes to the east of the Hume Highway, this region effectively mirrors the species distribution. (Actions under section 7A of the Wildlife Act, the Minister can recommend to the Governor in Council to declare a species of wildlife unprotected in a specified area). You appear to be killing a large number of healthy animals through these actions. I would remind you that the Northern hairy-nosed Wombat krefftii, whose path to the edge of extinction is not dissimilar to what is occurring to Vombatus ursinus, is now down to less than 250 animals.

What needs to happen now?

Both the Red Kangaroo and the Coarse-haired Wombat need to be fully protected with immediate effect. No more ATCWs should be issued for either species (in the case of the Red Kangaroo the number of animals authorised to be killed exceeds the species entire population in Victoria). The Coarse-haired Wombat should also be removed with immediate effect from its classification as ‘declared species of wildlife’. Not to do so would raise very serious questions

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indeed about the intentions of the Victorian Government in relation to its obligations of a duty of care to the protection of Australia’s species. These matters are of extreme urgency.”

LETTER EXRACT ENDS

As yet there has been no response to our letter from either Minister or department.

Victorian Government Authority to Control Wildlife

Here is a list of wildlife in Victoria subject to the government’s Authority to Control Wildlife (ATCW). The number of permits and the number of animals are listed here for the years 2009 to 2017. What we can tell you from nearly half a century of observing these matters, and owning a significant wildlife property in Victoria over a very long period, is that none of the people we have seen killing wildlife would have had permission from the Victorian Government to do so.

For the period 2009 to 2017 - 27,893 ATCWs were issued covering 1,282,761 animals (only Australian species are included in our list). The average number of permits issued each year for the period 2009/10/11 was 2,410, for the last three years, that is 2015/16/17 the yearly average had risen to 3,919 permits. For the number of animals authorised for ‘control’ the average number for each year for the period 2009/10/11 was 95,918, for the last three years, that is 2015/16/17 the yearly average had risen to 204,594 animals, the number more than doubling in the period. Comparing the years 2011 and 2017 the number of animals subject to ATCWs rose from 80,368 to 244,303, thus tripling over the period.

It is likely that, given the Victorian Government’s resistance to rescuing and relocating animals, and that there is little or no supervision and follow up of what is occurring when they are authorising the killing, including no account of the actual number of animals killed or other species caught up in the killing, that the most likely outcome here is that most animals die. The Victorian Department of Environment states that these are the maximum numbers, not necessarily the number of animals killed, they will never know and we will never know the final outcome.

The range of species subjected to ATCWs each year varies little from year to year, which appears slightly odd when we analysed it. There are 80 Victorian species on the list. Obvious exclusions include Koalas, which we know they have been killing.

In the list below, the first number is the number of ATCWs issued for the species in the period, the second number gives the total number of animals authorised for control.

It looks as if it might be the case for a few species on this list that they appear here because of a particular development was taking place, say a building

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covering a wetland or major development work on waterways, the department now says the Long-necked Tortoise was wrongly listed.

ATCWs: Endemic and long distance migrant species in Victoria • Australian Fur Seal Pusillus doriferus – 8 / 258 • Australian Magpie Cracticus tibicen – 174 / 3,565 • Australian Magpie Lark Grallina cyanoleuca – 48 / 383 • Australian Raven Corvus coronoides – 767 / 21,538 • Australian Shelduck Tadorna tadornoides – 105 / 3,793 • Australian White Ibis Threskiornis moluccus – 33 / 2,091 • Bell Miner Manorina melanophrys – 7 / 570 • Black Kite Milvus migrans – 8 / 165 • Black Swan Cygnus atratus – 16 / 510 • Black Wallaby Wallabia bicolor – 1,203 / 16,442 • Black-tailed Native-hen Tribonyx ventralis – 10 / 240 • Broad-shelled River Turtle Chelodina expansa –1 / 100 • Brolga Grus rubicunda – 2 / 51 • Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Coracina novaehollandiae – 13 / 125 • Cape Barren Goose Cereopsis novaehollandiae – 23 / 1,594 • Chestnut Teal Anas castanea – 6 / 50 • Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecular – 53 / 1,715 • Common Long-necked Tortoise Chelodina longicollis – 3 / 10,119* • Pseudocheirus peregrinus –19 / 224 • Vombatus ursinus – 1,776 / 22,677 • Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans – 158 / 4,165 • Dingo Canis lupus dingo - 14 / 134 • Dusky Moorhen Gallinula tenebrosa – 4 / 270 • Eastern Banjo Frog Limnodynastes dumerilii – 1 / 10 • Eastern Brown Snake Pseudonaja textilis – 26 / 287 • Eastern Grey Kangaroo Macropus giganteus – 15,866 / 738,881 • Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius – 66 / 1,365 • Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae – 681 / 8,740 • Eurasian Coot Fulica atra – 29 / 1,251 • Fairy Martin Petrochelidon ariel – 2 / 300 • Rose-breasted Cockatoo (Galah) Eolophus roseicapilla – 376 / 27,712 • Gang-gang Cockatoo Callocephalon fimbriatum – 1 / 30 • Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo – 27 / 624 • Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus – 22 / 243 • Grey Teal Anas gracilis – 36 / 4,372 • 36.Grey-headed Flying-Fox Pteropus poliocephalus – 30 / 40,460 • Hardhead Aythya Australis – 1 / 15 • Highland Copperhead Austrelaps ramsayi – 8 / 65 • Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae – 24 / 186 • Little Corella Cacatua sanguinea – 357 / 28,920 • Little Crow Corvus bennetti– 1 / 15 • Little Black Cormorant Phalacrocorax sulcirostris – 37 / 562 • Little Pied Cormorant Microcarbo melanoleucos – 33 / 397

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• Little Raven Corvus mellori – 61 / 1,629 • Long-billed Corella Cacatua tenuirostris – 380 / 44,653 • Lowland Copperhead Austrelaps superbus – 10 / 86 • Mallee Ringneck Barnardius zonarius – 10 / 50 • Magpie Goose Anseranas semipalmata – 2 / 1,510 • Maned (Wood) Duck Chenonetta jubata – 992 / 32,879 • Murray Turtle Emydura macquarii – 1 /100 • Masked Lapwing (Plover) Vanellus miles – 111 / 1,463 • Musk Lorikeet Glossopsitta concinna – 257 / 13,890 • Noisy Friarbird Philemon corniculatus – 80 /1,880 • Noisy Minor Manorina melanocephala – 62 / 1,928 • Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa – 91 / 2,040 • Pacific Heron (White-necked) Ardea pacifica – 1 / 2 • Pied Currawong Strepera graculina – 216 / 5,411 • Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyria – 23 / 370 • Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus moluccanus – 169 / 8,095 • Red Kangaroo Macropus rufus – 54 / 42,008 • Red-bellied Black Snake Pseudechis porphyriacus – 18 / 166 • Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata – 110 / 3,302 • Red-necked (Bennett’s) Wallaby Macropus rufogriseus – 159 / 7,606 • Richard’s Pipit Anthus richardi – 1 / 10 • Rufous (Nankeen) Night Heron Nycticorax caledonicus – 8 / 70 • Satin Bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus violaceus – 43 / 800 • Silver Gull Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae – 152 / 88,347 • Silvereye Zosterops lateralis – 128 / 3,555 • Straw-necked Ibis Threskiornis spinicollis – 13 / 390 • Sulphur Crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita – 503 / 28,005 • Tiger Snake Notechis scutatus – 24 / 246 • Wedged-tailed Eagle Aquila audax – 3 / 7 • Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena – 37 / 3,177 • Western Brown Snake Pseudonaja nuchalis – 1 / 1 • Western Grey Kangaroo Macropus fuliginosus – 605 / 44,448 • White-faced Heron Egretta novaehollandiae – 6 / 60 • White-winged Chough Corcorax melanorhamphos – 5 / 50 • Yellow Rosella Platycercus flaveolus – 1 / 10 • Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus – 9 / 599 • Yellow-throated Miner Manorina flavigula – 3 / 90

Add to this the activities such as duck shooting in Victoria which accounts for a vast number of waterbirds each year, in 2011, somewhere around 600,000 birds were killed on Victoria’s wetlands (including numerous Ramsar sites), many more were wounded. The wounding rate (and accompanying suffering) is estimated to be between 18 and 35 per cent (from international reports), so adding a further 108,000 to 210,000 to the total for the 2011 season. Over the last 30 years there has been a decline of 70 per cent in the population of waterbirds in the Murray Darling River system and the Victorian Government

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still call this annual and lengthy event sustainable. Conduct cannot comply with Ramsar responsibilities.

Peter and Andrea Hylands travelled from Tokyo to attend the opening of the 2018 Victorian Duck shooting season. Shooting was occurring in the presence of the Australasian Bittern, one of the rarest birds in the world.

We asked Laurie Levy, who has opposed the shooting of native waterbirds for many decades and has collected protected species from many of the Ramsar sites in Victoria, what he understood about the Victorian Government’s use of its staff in relation to duck shooting. His response regarding the 2017 season opening is as follows “we were told that some Parks Victoria staff who were on duty that day (to issue fines to rescuers who were in the water before 10am), were so traumatised by what they saw that they told their managers they would refuse to attend another duck shooting opening weekend”.

What follows is an extract of an email from Andrea Hylands to Victoria’s Agriculture Minister, Jaala Pulford. There has never been a response to this or other communications. The email was sent following misleading and conflated statements from the Minister regarding the economic benefit of the duck hunting season on the Victorian economy. EXTRACT BEGINS:

“Peter Hylands has mentioned to me that you seem to have a problem with numbers. It has been evident for a long time that the majority of Victorians do not want duck shooting to continue and as we understand it, a fraction of just one per cent of the Victorian population, are engaged in these activities which cruelly kills and wounds hundreds of thousands of Australian birds each year.

The $469 million benefit you claim cannot be correct, this is likely to be far more than a properly run major international event series would add to the Victorian economy. The activities surrounding this vile slaughter of Australian bird life, are typically low spend, any higher expenditures on facilitating the killing, such as transport vehicles and guns, are mostly benefiting the economies that make these things.

What is actually occurring here is that, these killing fields of cruelty and hatred (they are meant to be Ramsar sites and I am sure you know what the government’s responsibilities are in relation to Ramsar agreements) are blocking out the opportunity for a proper tourism industry in much of regional Victoria. I am afraid to say these killing fields of cruelty and hatred are entirely un-investable. So duck shooting needs to stop. I think our personal experience in Victoria demonstrated that neither our considerable and long-term investments, nor ourselves, were safe in regional Victoria.”

EXTRACT ENDS

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Macropods

Macropod species are the most demonised of all animals in Australia. Their denigration, which is shameful, is deliberate and is promoted by governments. Actions this week by the NSW Government describe the attitudes towards and outcomes for these animals. Recent media regarding Kangaroos in NSW has reported their population at 177 million, 17 million and 14 million. Similar misinformation campaigns have occurred in Victoria with department staff claiming in the media that populations are exploding, claims for which they have no evidence and have now admitted this to us. Here is the current position for Macropod species in Victoria:

• Toolache Wallaby Macropus greyi EXTINCT • Eastern Hare Wallaby leporides EXTINCT • Bridled Nailtail Wallaby Onychogalea fraenata EXTINCT • Rufous-bellied Thylogale billardierii EXTINCT • Rufous Rat-kangaroo or Rufous Aepyprymnus rufescens EXTINCT • Eastern Bettong Bettongia gaimardi gaimardi EXTINCT • The Woylie or Brush-tailed Bettong Bettongia penicillata EXTINCT • Long-nosed Potorous tridactylus THREATENED – population in decline • Long-footed Potoroo Potorous longipes ENDANGERED – population in decline • Western Grey Kangaroo Macropus fuliginosus – when historical distribution records are compared the species is missing from almost 50 per cent of its former range, shot commercially since 2014 • Eastern Grey Kangaroo Macropus giganteus – former range fractured and fragmented, shot commercially since 2014 • Eastern Wallaroo Macropus robustus robustus ENDANGERED – extinct across 99 per cent of its former range in Eastern Victoria • Red-necked Wallaby Macropus rufogriseus – population appears stable • Red Kangaroo Macropus rufus – restricted in its declining range to far North West Victoria, the species used to occur in at least 50 per cent of Victoria. The species existence in Victoria is directly threatened by Victorian Government actions • Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Petrogale penicillata ENDANGERED – hunted to near extinction in Victoria, few individuals remain, in 1908 alone 92,590 skins were marketed by a single company • Black Wallaby or Wallabia bicolor - population appears stable

Of the 16 species of Macropod that existed in Victoria 7 are now extinct, 3 more are on the edge of extinction. There are currently around 63,230 Victorians to every Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby in Victoria. Range and geography matters for the survival of species, this appears not to be understood by those managing this situation as species range continues to contract.

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Communication

We have raised our concerns over a very long period and responses from the Victorian Government ignore the evidence we have placed before them, claiming activities and actions are sustainable, ignoring issues relating to extreme cruelty and the result is that nothing changes. There has been no response from Victorian Ministers.

The attitudes towards and understanding of these matters is so perfectly described by a question in the Victorian Parliament regarding Victoria’s duck shooting season, which we requested Victorian politician Sam Hibbins ask (we live in South Yarra so Sam is our local representative) which was met with laughter and derision and insults from the Premier and Ministers responsible for managing the faunal extinction crisis in Victoria.

In these correspondences, responses from departments claim animals are diseased, dangerous, exploding in populations and so on. This is no more than standard messaging and does not attempt to address the issues being raised. Another habit is now to describe species as ‘overabundant’, apart from being subjective, there is no evidence on which to make these claims particularly as some species involved here are down to a few per cent of their original population. Other claims are also misleading and include claims that a particular species was once rare and is now suddenly abundant and exploding in population because of European settlement and the now changed landscape. That is, populations of animals explode, even though they are being shot on mass, because the forests that they once lived in are cleared, waterways are damaged, fire regimes are changed and the numerous introduced species now either replacing them or predating them, and on the list goes. Macropods and Koalas are among the many to benefit from our largesse. Recent history tells a rather different story in its numerous .

There are also constant claims and messaging that wildlife in Victoria is protected, I think we demonstrate here that this is far from the truth.

We would make the point, and this issue goes well beyond the boundaries of Victoria, that the types of behaviour by governments in these matters discussed here cause deep distress to the many people who care about the Australian environment and its fauna and flora. The concerns and wellbeing of this group of individuals, which is large, is totally ignored by governments. So extinction is a people issue too.

PART THREE: SUMMARY

The factors driving Australia's Faunal extinction crisis will only be addressed if governments change their behaviours in relation to these matters. It is also evident that these matters are highly complex and cannot be dealt with in any adequate way in a short document that comprises this submission.

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Peter and Andrea Hylands will make themselves available to the Environment and Communications References Committee to discuss these matters and we suggest that, given our focus on Victoria in this submission the committee calls both the Victorian Agriculture Minister and the Victorian Environment Minister to any hearings on these matters. NOTE: It is likely that we will be in Oxford in the second half of September and all of October.

Key actions at the macro level in relation to government conduct (and these are additional defined by species and regions) are:

• The Commonwealth must take responsibility for Australia's Faunal extinction crisis as the behaviour and actions of state governments (which are mostly very poor) needs to be managed to ensure the survival of species; • In relation to the adequacy of Commonwealth environment laws, including but not limited to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, in providing sufficient protections for threatened fauna and against key threatening processes, the laws may or may not be adequate, the reinforcement of laws is a key issue and there will be numerous examples of this in Victoria relating to both state and Commonwealth laws. Our view is that law enforcement tends to be subjective and is based on cultural attitudes rather than law – these matters need further investigation; • People issues need to be considered in the matter of Australia's Faunal extinction crisis, that is, the very significant number of people across the Australian continent that are distressed by the decline of biodiversity who need some form of consideration and the employment, management, training, use and treatment of staff within government departments regarding the matters discussed in this submission needs detailed investigation as do, for example, Victorian Government employment practices in relation to these matters. There needs to be proper balance and accountability for the actions of the employer; • There needs to be an Australia wide and consistent approach in terms of content and geography of laws, actions, funding and enforcement. Consistency does not mean for 12 months, it means forever. This lack of consistency from state to state is extremely damaging to the long term prospects of species in Australia as is the inconsistency of approach; • There needs to be greater accountability and responsibility by Ministers and their governments and senior managers. How are accountability and responsibility measured and managed and by whom? Proper plans need to be in place to ensure what occurs is in the public interest. There are too many poor choices; • The impact of land clearing on native fauna needs to be recognised and not denied as is currently the case as described in messaging from the Commonwealth Government, to name just one; • Nature, culture and commerce are not separate things that live in a silo, they are connected in most complex ways. The issue here for Australia is that economic development activities should look to the future and not

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the past. There are many examples here that include the failure of telecommunications and energy policy to name just two. These things have environmental and economic consequences, which are enormous; • Levels of public investment in these matters need to reflect the serious nature of the issues, which in the case of Australia, are among the worst in the world; • In relation to National Parks and reserves and state parks etc it is critically important that protections are not weakened further. More parks are required, not less and this includes marine reserves in which Australia’s six turtle species continue to struggle; • There are many volunteers in Australia who work for nothing and often at great expense to assist the conservation of endangered Australian fauna, they receive little or no help from government and the process of conserving Australia’s endangered wildlife can be both violent and costly; • Education matters, there appears to be a considerable lack of knowledge about Australia and its regions and its species. More can be done to teach people about these things. Ignorance is no excuse; and • Thinking about young people, what kind of world are we leaving them? What is the long-term overall plan here, where is the detailed national strategy in relation to all the issues that interact to create species endangerment?

There are many actions by governments that seek to make species conservation an ever more difficult task and these include reducing staffing levels within government departments responsible for species conservation and selectively closing research activities relating to land and climate change. There are also attempts to mislead the public in relation to particular species and there is increasing pressure to weaken protections in National Parks and other reserves including from politicians. The issues are cultural and not economic. There are plenty of ways to build prosperity without the vast scale destruction of species and environment occurring in Australia today. Does the Commonwealth Government really believe that the destruction of the Australian Continent comes without large scale social and economic costs?

The reality is that if we had done these things properly we would not be discussing the faunal extinction crisis today. The poor choices (now seemingly poorer than ever), the constant inconsistencies, the lack of logic in decision- making and the complete lack of understanding of how the dots are connected so perfectly describes the legislation, actions and behaviours of governments in relation to Australia’s faunal extinction crisis and perfectly describes precisely how extinctions are made.

Things need to change.

Andrea and Peter Hylands 6 August 2018

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