AUSTRALIA'S FAUNAL EXTINCTION CRISIS An inquiry into Australia'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”. 1 AUSTRALIA'S FAUNAL EXTINCTION CRISIS 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 animals 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. 2 AUSTRALIA'S FAUNAL EXTINCTION CRISIS 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 conservation status 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. 3 AUSTRALIA'S FAUNAL EXTINCTION CRISIS 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 mammals 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 animal 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.