Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The federal government's decision to invest into the Environment Restoration Fund demonstrates an understanding of how significant and time-sensitive the protection of our threatened species is. Over the course of the next few years, significant resources will be poured into worthwhile environmental initiatives, including those which are focused on protecting threatened Australian species. A new grants round, which includes a $6.78 million expansion to Australia's network of environmental safe havens, will further protect those species in need.

Safe havens are fenced areas and islands, free from predators and pests, which enable threatened species to prosper and, hopefully, to progress to coming off the threatened species list. They are vital in the fight against extinction and in ensuring balance is restored and maintained in our ecosystem. In addition, they prove valuable to scientific research and to the collection of scientific data. From safe havens, we can better understand the needs of our threatened species, prevent species from becoming threatened and potentially reintroduce locally extinct populations into their native environments.

The area of the Environment Restoration Fund that specifically concerns Australia's native mammals is the Threatened Species Strategy, which has already established 10 fence projects, free from feral wildlife and predators. However, under the expansion of the Environment Restoration Fund, many more will be established. At this point, there have been five islands identified as worthy of environmental intervention and in need of feral cat eradication. Feral cats have been successfully eradicated from many other islands, including Dirk Hartog Island in Western Australia, which has since seen the reintroduction of once locally extinct native fauna. The reason for the eradication of the feral cats is that they pose the greatest threat to our endangered mammals. They have contributed to the extinction of more than 20 mammals since their introduction to Australia and can be found in 99.8 per cent of Australia. It is necessary that, in addition to establishing further save havens, we develop and advance our technologies aimed at culling their populations.

Island safe havens, as opposed to those on mainland Australia, are significantly easier to establish and prove an efficient means of protecting endangered Australian mammals, due to it being far more achievable. However, it will be required that safe havens are established on mainland Australia and better systems of population management and safe haven maintenance will need to be devised. The federal government has this year announced Flinders Island in South Australia and French Island in Victoria as further key safe havens within the network of Australian wildlife safe havens. The more safe havens that can be successfully established the greater chance we have of restoring populations of native fauna, balancing and maintaining ecosystems, and ultimately caring for and taking responsibility for our environment.

The rolling out of the $6.78 million grants round will operate under a system of triage and will filter down to the species that aren't considered under high threat. The time-sensitive nature of assisting and enabling threatened species an opportunity to recover means the focus must be directed to the species in greater need. The overall objective of this program is to reduce the risk of extinction and to repair the damage done to native wildlife populations through the spread of urbanisation, deforestation and an array of other environmentally damaging consequences. The available funding of $6.78 million will go to a number of environmental initiatives, with the minimum grant being $300,000 and the maximum available being $1.8 million. This portion of the Environment Restoration Fund will focus solely on safe havens and protecting threatened mammals species in Australia. Other portions of the funds will be announced in coming years.

Other initiatives that the Environment Restoration Fund will focus on include protecting Australia's coast, oceans and waterways through improving water quality, with clean-up, recovery and recycling of waste. It is not only important to establish these safe havens and to work towards rebuilding native Australian wildlife population but it is necessary to mend natural habitats across Australia and ensure the gradual reintroduction of Australian species back into the wild. The result of the Environment Restoration Fund initiative will benefit not only local communities but also regional and local economies.

The tackling of feral cat populations is one of the main priorities for protecting Australian wildlife, not to mention the flow-on effects it has on agriculture and tourism. Too many species have entered the threatened species list and it is important that all these creatures be saved from that list and that they reach a point beyond extinction which is why money allocated towards this initiative is so important to both Australian wildlife and the environment in general.

As we continue to advance technologically, greater emphasis will need to be placed on cybersafety and security online. That being said, it isn't only through online mediums that people will fall victim to scams and fraud. Scam calls are a serious problem—the consequences of which affect all Australians, young and old. Major Australian telecommunication companies have made significant efforts and attempts to limit the number of scam calls that are received, but these people are very, very clever and they know how to get around some of our smartest telecommunications workers.

This year alone Australians lost almost $36 million to scam callers, which is far too much and a figure that would ideally be reduced to zero dollars—that's what we're after. The federal government in light of the severity of the issue has unveiled the reducing scam calls code, which will require the major telecommunication companies to make not just a normal effort but a concerted effort in dealing with scammers. The new industry code will require all telcos—not some of them, all of them—to detect, trace and block evil scam calls as a means of prevention rather than cure. Because, if we're looking to cure something, we'll have to create a list.

Over 30 million scam calls were blocked this year alone prior to the introduction of the new industry code. However, improvements could still be made and it is hoped that these new requirements placed upon telcos will return a greater number of blocked scam calls and save the Australian people millions of dollars over the next few years.

The new industry code, in addition to outlining what is required, once identifying a scam also outlines what constitutes a scam. We all know what a scam might be, but it's important that we outline it in a code and how best to detect it. The reducing scam calls code is designed to protect Australians and suppress the number of scam calls that get through every day to Australians. To those that fall victim, the financial consequences can be devastating. And, as many people know, there is little that can be done once you have fallen victim to a scam. This is why it is so important to aid in the prevention measures implemented under the new reducing scam calls code. There is no silver bullet; indeed, there isn't a golden bullet. There is no bullet or blanket solution to reducing scam calls, and scammers will undoubtedly continue to find ways around anti-scam efforts.

See this speech in context