Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Cowper calls out that we are putting bats first. No; that is not the point. The issue is that action has already been taken to deal with the problem and that the member for Cowper has brought something to this House that is not needed.

The EPBC Act provides additional protection for threatened species, such as the grey headed flying fox, when such species are listed as protected. The grey headed flying fox was listed in 2001 because it was a threatened species. Despite the current problem, however, action has been put in place, and I absolutely reject the allegation in the media that the Maclean flying fox decision was approved because of this bill. That is total rubbish. Action had been taken beforehand; the decision had no bearing on the outcome of the department’s decision to approach dispersal activities at Maclean High School.

The member for Cowper is good at playing politics but he is not good at looking at the big issue. He is not big on details. He is not big on understanding what it is all about. The member for Cowper is just playing politics with this issue rather than looking at resolving it through the proper processes that are in place and rather than noting the fact that action has already been taken to deal with this issue. (Time expired)

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