Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today being National Threatened Species Day, I rise this afternoon in the adjournment debate to speak about one of Australia’s most unique marsupials. It is not the kangaroo and it is not the koala; it is, however, the bilby. Bilbies were once spread across more than 70 per cent of this great land, but today they are extinct in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It is a sad fact that only around 600 of these little creatures are alive today. They can be found in small areas in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

For the benefit of the House, I would like to explain the unique characteristics of this great little creature. The bilby is a nocturnal marsupial and is a member of the bandicoot family. It has long ears to help it to hear threats from predators, a long snout, which is pink and hairless on the tip, and a long, sticky tongue to collect food. The bilby eats all sorts of food including seeds, spiders, worms, insects, bulbs, fruit and fungi. Bilbies live in spiralling burrows to keep them safe from predators and protect them from the sun’s heat. Usually each bilby has up to 12 burrows in close proximity to each other. The normal lifespan for a bilby in the wild is between six and seven years; in captivity, about 11 years.

As I said earlier, with today being National Threatened Species Day, and with National Bilby Day to be celebrated this weekend, it is timely for me to bring to the attention of the House the importance of the long-term efforts for the preservation of the bilby that are going on. The decline in the bilby population over the past 100 years has been caused by loss of habitat as a result in many areas of land use change and threats posed by the bilby’s predators. To combat this decline, Charleville, a town in the west of my electorate and the location of National Bilby Day, is the home for a breeding in the wild program based in the Currawinya National Park. Captive programs like this one at Currawinya help protect the bilby from predators like rabbits, foxes and wild cats. Rangers Frank Manthey and Peter McRae have been instrumental in establishing this program, and I congratulate them on their efforts to preserve this unique marsupial. Without their efforts, perhaps in a few years these great little marsupials would have been absolutely extinct right across Australia.

In 2003, as a result of their efforts, a fence was completed, which enclosed 25,000 hectares of a national park to maintain a safe environment for the bilby. The fence was a product of the Save the Bilby Fund. Last year marked the inaugural celebration of National Bilby Day, and it was a huge success. This year’s celebrations out at Charleville look just as promising. Celebrations started last Sunday and there are various activities over this weekend. I encourage as many people as possible to visit Charleville this weekend, if they are listening to this broadcast.

The Australian government is playing its role in assisting with funding of the protection of the bilby. Over $300,000 has been provided from the government’s Natural Heritage Trust fund for bilby protection programs. This included $50,000 for the Save the Bilby Fund.

Other major advocates—and this is important—of protecting the bilby include Dreamworld on the Gold Coast and Darrell Lea. Dreamworld is home to five bilbies who are regularly taken out to visit schools in the Gold Coast region as part of the education program Wildlife for Kids. It also sells bilby merchandise and has bilby shows available for visitors to the park. Darrell Lea produces a delicious Easter bilby and, through its sales, has donated $185,000 since 1999 to the Save the Bilby Fund. I believe the Easter bilby should replace the Easter bunny and the Easter egg because, after all, it is the wild rabbit which has contributed to the decline of this unique Australian native marsupial. Rabbits are no good for our environment.

I congratulate these two companies for helping to raise funds for and awareness of this wonderful Australian animal. I would also like to thank Frank Manthey and Peter McRae for the wonderful job they are doing with the Save the Bilby Fund and the bilby conservation park in Charleville. The work they are doing is for all Australians to enjoy.