Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) condemns:

(a) 'canned hunting' where animals are raised in captivity for the purpose of being killed in the name of trophy kills; and

(b) the importation of any species (body or part) in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) appendixes I, II or III as a result of a canned hunt;

(2) congratulates the Australian Government for introducing new measures to tighten controls on the trade of rhinoceros to tackle illegal trade of this threatened species;

(3) welcomes Australian Government consideration of actions to improve the protection of African lions by preventing imports of lion trophies obtained through illegal hunting; and

(4) notes that:

(a) the CITES lays down guidelines on the importation of all trophy kills, and the Department of Environment uses this information as its guide in Australia;

(b) although CITES is legally binding on the parties, it does not take the place of national laws; and

(c) as a signatory to CITES, the Australian Government is committed to the protection of wildlife that may be adversely affected by trade.

I spoke in this place in May last year about the appalling practice of canned hunting and today I rise with the knowledge that my words back then are resonating increasingly in our community, in our parliament and around the world. People see this practice, as I do, as cruel and barbaric.

Firstly, I must pay special thanks to Minister Greg Hunt, whom I approached last year about this topic. The minister and his staff have been incredibly supportive and understanding of my deep concerns about canned hunting. I also must thank the Parliamentary Library for their fantastic research efforts, in particular Bill McCormack and Kate Baker. But let me first recap.

I had no idea of what canned hunting was until I met one of my constituents, Donalea Patman, the founder of For the Love of Wildlife. Donalea has been a fantastic ambassador for saving African lions. Donalea is extremely passionate about ridding the world of the sinister practice of canned hunting and has shown me numerous tragic videos of footage depicting extremely distressing scenes of African lions being killed, whether by bow and arrow or by firearm. I still recall the first video I saw which depicted a lion lazing back under a shady tree and a so-called hunter not far away who quickly pumped several bullets with a high-powered weapon into the lion. It was simply shocking. Sadly, the lion did not try to escape. It was obviously used to human contact and had no fear of the hunter.

Canned hunting can be best described as hunts where native or exotic animals have no fear of humans, are confined by fencing to guarantee the hunter a quick, cost-effective and efficient kill. The video I witnessed showed part of an industry that is flourishing under what I believe are false pretences. Volunteers are conned in the name of conservation and pay up to $800 a week for the privilege of handling orphan lion cubs back into the wild. Many of these so-called conservation reserves are actually breeding grounds for the canned hunting of lions where cubs a few days old are taken off their mothers and rented out to reserves that falsely claim they are orphans.

Allowing the lion to be killed in a canned hunt can fetch between $8,000 and $25,000. Soft as I was with the canned hunting of African lions, further research revealed that this practice is ongoing with endangered species around the planet. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora laid down the guidelines for importation of all animals, including trophy kills. The Australian Department of the Environment uses the information as a guide, Australia having been a party to the convention since 1976. I have researched the topic of canned hunting and where Australia sits with this unbelievably cruel practice. I had the great pleasure of meeting Ian Michler, an internationally respected conservationist with more than 15 years experience investigating canned hunting, when he visited Australia and met with me, the minister and other members from both sides of the parliament.

With canned hunting, the big issue of importation into Australia is that we simply cannot tell whether an animal has come into this country as part of a canned hunt or not. I firmly believe we should change the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 not only to stop imports of African lions obtained through canned hunts but to prevent all species obtained through canned hunting listed under the convention's appendices I, II and III from being imported, unless specifically approved by the Minister for the Environment. This would only be for non-commercial conservation, breeding, research and education purposes. I believe we have a moral obligation to do what is right. Indeed, it is also the right decision for our endangered world wildlife. We all have the duty to future generations to do this.

Many believe that hunting of endangered species has economic and conservation benefits for countries involved. This is simply false. A report written by Melbourne economist Roderick Campbell from Economists at Large showed that revenue from trophy hunting represented only two per cent of tourism in Africa and that this tourism revenue is only a small fraction, considering that it is $200 million whereas the economy is $408 billion. Sadly, there are only 7,000 to 8,000 lions left in captivity, 160 of these in privately owned canned hunting reserves.

Just in closing, Albert Einstein once said, 'The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.' The trade in killing of African lions must stop.

Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

) ( ): I would like to thank the honourable member for La Trobe for bringing the issue of canned hunting to my attention and, through this motion, to the attention of the Australian parliament and wider public. Canned hunting involves the practice of breeding animals for the sole purpose of them being hunted in captivity. Disturbingly, this so-called tourist activity is gaining in popularity, especially when it involves hunting lions and rhinos in South Africa. I understand that people pay up to $40,000 to hunt and kill these animals in an enclosed area in which they are ultimately defenceless and unable to escape. I am sad to say that some tourists pay to pat or walk with young lions at what are misleadingly described as 'conservation parks' when in fact they are breeding centres for animals made subject to these unethical and highly lucrative hunting operations.

Animal welfare is an issue that is close to my heart, and I strongly condemn the hunting of animals in these circumstances, particularly when the animals are endangered. I have long been an advocate for the better treatment of animals, and to that end I support a range of organisations, some local—like Native ARC, a not-for-profit organisation in my electorate that provides medical care and rehabilitation services for injured native wildlife—and some national—like Animals Australia, our peak national animal protection organisation, whose work to investigate and expose animal cruelty has been so important in areas like live export and factory farming. I am also currently the co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of the RSPCA.

I am pleased that there is strong bipartisan support for ensuring that animal welfare remains a priority for Australia and Australians. Australia is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, CITES, a multilateral treaty designed to protect endangered plants and animals. In accordance with that treaty and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, Australia has committed to protecting species that are endangered or are at risk of becoming endangered.

I have spoken in this House on multiple occasions in relation to the cruelty around Australia's live export trade. That has been and continues to be an example of Australia falling drastically short of acceptable standards of animal protection and welfare, notwithstanding the introduction of ESCAS. It is telling, for instance, that not one exporter has been prosecuted or has had their export licence suspended for multiple serious violations of ESCAS. I agree with the assessment of RSPCA chief executive Heather Neil, who believes ESCAS continues to set an unacceptably low bar.

I believe that canned hunting is another example of animal cruelty in which Australia is currently complicit by allowing the importation of hunting trophies. By not acting to prevent the importation of hunting trophies, we are effectively supporting an activity which is both cruel and unethical, a form of barbarism that has a direct impact on endangered species we have committed to protect. A core component of both CITES and the EPBC Act is the application of a permit system to regulate the importation of animal body parts and trophies into Australia. As the law currently stands, a permit may be granted to import species that are listed in appendix II of CITES, which includes species that are at risk of becoming endangered—including lions. That needs to change. The ability to take home part of a hunted and killed animal as a trophy is what sustains these types of hunting operations. If you take away the prize, you take away the game.

To this end, I commend the Minister for the Environment for his recent decision to ban the importation of rhinoceros trophies into Australia. Yet the horrific evidence that we have been shown recently of canned hunting—in particular of lions in South Africa—suggests that the minister must act in extending this ban to other species on the CITES list. For as long as Australian tourists are permitted to return to the country with lion trophies in their luggage, we all remain complicit in the practice of canned hunting. And to be complicit in canned hunting is to stand by while the senseless killing of animals occurs and while endangered species are put at greater risk, in contravention of the standards established under CITES. While canned hunting may not always be illegal, the practice is reprehensible—especially when it masquerades as a form of conservation. I am sure the Australian community would want us to take action to ensure there is no encouragement or tolerance of canned hunting in our customs regulations.

For all these reasons, I give my strongest support to the terms of the motion before us, and I urge the government to take action to ban the importation of animal parts and trophies of any species listed in CITES, including lions, so that Australia can do its part in bringing the abhorrent practice of canned hunting to an end.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this motion by the member for La Trobe, and I want to thank the member for bringing this practice of canned hunting to the attention of the House. This is the practice of raising animals, some of which are endangered, in captivity in order for them to be 'hunted' in an enclosed area as trophy kills for wealthy customers.

Because the business is legal and the animals are not wild born, it makes the importation of the trophies, such as pelts and skulls, perfectly legal. There remains a loophole in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species—CITES—that this parliament must address. As the trophies were legally obtained, they are allowed to bypass the trade in endangered species regulations.

The process of breeding animals for hunting is a worldwide reality. These canned hunts can be found in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana for African game species, and in more than 1,000 private hunting lodges across the USA. Some of the animals bred to be hunted at these private reserves in the USA are listed as extinct in the wild, like the scimitar-horned oryx. This raises the question of what constitutes extinction. Can a species be classed as endangered, or indeed extinct, in the wild if it is being successfully bred in captivity? And, if it can be bred in captivity, surely it is incumbent upon us to propagate the species back to the wild, not hunt it in purpose-built reserves.

I feel it is important to make the distinction between hunting and canned hunting, and between hunting as a sport and shooting in order to cull animals that are pests in our environment. In Australia, hunters provide a valuable service for farmers and conservation efforts alike. Introduced species like foxes, rabbits, feral cats and dogs, and wild pigs kill native species, destroy habitat as well as crops, and prey on livestock. Culling programs help to contain the number of kangaroos, now estimated at over 34 million by the Department of the Environment. This estimate only covers the areas where commercial culling occurs—the rest of the country is not monitored, so the actual number is far higher.

Canned hunting involves keeping an animal in an area where it has no chance of escape, but with enough running room for the hunters to enjoy a level of challenge in a so-called 'fair' chase—animals that in many cases, I understand, have been hand raised and have lost their fear of humans. Some even approach these alleged hunters seeking food.

Whilst I was never a supporter, hunting used to be about skill, patience and the ability to overcome the natural obstacles. But this is not hunting that serves any purpose. This is shooting an endangered animal in a controlled environment for so-called fun.

As this practice is carried out beyond our borders and outside of our laws, what can we do to help end this sport and the trade in trophies that flows from it? The obvious answer is to amend the existing convention on international trade in endangered species so that no distinction is made as to the source of the trophy. Wild or canned hunting of an endangered species must be listed as equally unacceptable. Can you imagine the difference to wild populations if the numbers of animals bred for the sport were released? That could be enough to bring some species back from the brink of extinction. Frankly, I call this sport un-Australian. Australians pride themselves on living by the creed of a fair go. Where is the fair go for these animals?

I want to again thank the member for La Trobe for alerting the House to this unacceptable practice. I strongly urge every member of this House to support this motion and I ask the environment minister to put into legislation that an endangered animal is endangered no matter its origin and ban the importation of trophies from all hunts in all circumstances. I commend this motion to the House.

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

I would like to commence my contribution to the debate by commending the member for La Trobe on bringing this to the parliament. I also note that this is not the first time he has spoken on this issue and I know that he is totally committed to stopping this cruel practice that takes place throughout the world.

For the record, canned hunting is trophy hunting in which an animal is kept in a confined area, reducing their chance of escape by being fenced in, which really increases the likelihood that the hunter will have some success. It is changing the odds—even though the odds are already in favour of the hunter, it is changing them and making it much more likely that that hunter will be able to score a trophy that he or she can take home. The target animal is unfairly prevented from escaping the hunter, either by physical constraints or by mental constraints. They are tame. A lot of the animals involved in canned hunting have been brought up in captivity. They have been separated from their mothers at a fairly young age and are held in captivity. They gain a certain trust in humans.

I was reading of where young lions are taken away from their mothers. The common explanation is, 'That's because the mother had no milk.' In reality, that is a very, very rare occurrence in the wild. Most lionesses do have milk. They say that, if this happens, they are really protecting the species. Animal welfare experts disagree with this. They say that breeders are removing the cubs from their mothers because the lionesses become quickly fertile, so they can breed more lions. These breeders tell you that they remove the cubs, as I said, because the lionesses have no milk, but that has never been seen in the wild.

Trophy hunters are attracted to a situation where the animal is in an enclosed space and has some level of trust of human beings. I am not a person who supports hunting, but, to my way of thinking, this is quite a brutal and inhumane—

An honourable member: Cowardly.

and cowardly attack on defenceless animals. They can to a degree protect themselves, but, at the end of the day, they are in no way able to stand up to that hunter who wants a trophy for the wall back home. I look at it and think: 'What can we do?' This predominantly happens in South Africa. There have been attempts to ban it, but the High Court there overturned it. I think the only way that we can have a real impact on this canned hunting is through customs regulation, is the member for Fremantle mentioned, and banning the importation of animal parts.

The CITES—the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora—aims to ensure that the international trade in species of endangered animals and plants does not threaten their survival. It also covers a number of other points but it is a very important convention and one that we as a nation need to be 100 per cent committed to. I call on my colleagues in this House today to join the member for Latrobe to bring about an end to this very unfair, cowardly canned hunting throughout the world.

Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last year I had the opportunity of attending a briefing on canned hunting with the member for La Trobe and was very disturbed to learn about the extent of the practice in Africa. I generally support hunting. It is vital when you are talking about culling of feral animals like feral pigs, horses and cattle—you get problems with camels and all sorts of things—that have a serious negative impact on our environment. I also do not have a problem with trophy hunting, to be quite honest.

The member for Shortland mentioned CITES. There is a process whereby you can get approval for taking a trophy animal. I have been arguing very strongly that in Australia, as part of our crocodile management program, large animals that are creating a problem—a limited number, particularly in Indigenous communities—could be made available for trophy hunters and, in that way, contribute to the management of this species. This happens around the world where there needs to be culls of wild animal populations to manage those populations. There is a place where the animal, rather than just being shot and disposed of, can actually be taken for a price and then that money goes back into conservation.

But we are talking about a very different practice altogether in relation to canned hunting. It is a very brutal practice involving hand raising of animals in captivity and then, when they become large enough or at a time when they believe they can be sold as a trophy, they are put into enclosures—and if they find they are a little bit difficult to hunt, often these animals are in some way incapacitated—where they can be very easily and ruthlessly hunted down.

The raising in captivity that lessens the natural fear-and-flight responses normally prompted when wild animals see people. It makes the animal a very easy target and a guaranteed kill. I ask the question: 'Is this fair?'

It is not often we quote a thrash metal band in this chamber, but Megadeth's song, Countdown to Extinction, highlights the practice perfectly:

Endangered species, caged in fright

Shot in cold blood, no chance to fight

The stage is set, now pay the price.

An ego boost, don't think twice

Technology, the battle's unfair

You pull the hammer without a care

Squeeze the trigger that makes you 'Man'

Pseudo-safari, the hunt is canned

That says a hell of a lot. We know how the circle of life is meant to work, but this is seriously a raw deal when it comes to these creatures.

To make matters worse there is quite a significant number of young Australians—predominantly young women—who travel to Africa each year to work in 'conservation' parks where they pay around $700 a week to nurture orphan lions back into the wild. Unbeknownst to these young people, many of these conservation parks are actually breeding grounds for the canned lion industry. This is a gross deception and I encourage young Australians who are thinking about doing this to look very carefully at what the consequences of their commitment to these animals really is and where these animals end up.

Australia must condemn this practice of canned lion hunting and the importation of any animal parts as a result of canned hunting. Our proposals for new lion import restrictions follow research by the Australia Institute that looked at how it could affect the African economy if our country restricted the importation of African lion trophies. The research found that introducing our restrictions would successfully dissuade Australian tourists from participating in canned lion trophy hunting. The research also found that it would have minimal impact on the African countries involved. I think we also need to have education out there for young women, to make sure that these people get the message so that they do not do this.

The other thing that worries me particularly about this is the way that they are crossing lions and tigers and going for the mutations—for the white ones and that sort of thing: the different genetics there. It is absolutely destroying the genetics of these creatures, and it is just purely for the trophy. In fact, it needs to be stopped and to be stopped very quickly. Australia must condemn canned hunting and the importation of any species into the country as a result of canned hunting. It is the right decision— (Time expired)

Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for La Trobe—not just in the usual formal sense that we do for bringing a resolution here, but for a persistent campaign around the subject. Clearly, we heard from the previous speaker that he has had briefings in the parliament. He has obviously been in close contact with the minister and one would think that the change with regard to rhinos has something to do with his activity. This all arises from a constituent coming in and alerting the member about this issue, so I just want to congratulate him very clearly on all this activity.

When I saw this resolution I was first reminded of Nicolae Ceausescu, the despot of Romania, who was alleged to have killed 4,000 European brown bears during his reign and to have received 270 gold medals. These gold medals were apparently based on the type of kill you do. He had a rule, apparently, that nobody was allowed to kill more animals than he did on any of the hunts; he had a lot of the other Eastern bloc leaders there for hunting trips. Apparently what he used to do back then was to drug the animals so they were incapable of being missed. I think that is an extreme version of what we are talking about.

Obviously, the situation has a number of issues. The previous speaker referred to breeding for exotic strains, but there is also a very big danger of inbreeding. There is the situation where they have found the concentration of diseases being accentuated by these breeding patterns. There is the situation that every speaker has talked about: the animals become very tame. They are not fearful and they are used to the particular ways in which they are fed. So in actual fact, given that they are also enclosed, it is a very one-sided struggle.

The American hunter, Ted Kerasote, said:

'Canned hunting' is a misnomer. More accurately defined as 'shooting animals in small enclosures,' the activity has nothing to do with the motives that inform authentic hunting: procuring healthy, organic food; participating in the timeless cycles of birth, death, and nurturing; honoring the lives that support us; and reconnecting with wildness. No matter where one stands on hunting—vehemently opposed to it or seeing it as yet another way to live sustainably on Earth—one ought to decry shooting animals behind fences.

Whilst we have had a concentration on the question of essentially impoverished southern African countries which need the dollars, in reading about this I was also alerted to the growing practice in the United States. It is estimated that in any one year there are 1,000 instances of this. The Humane Society of America has said that animals that range between extinct in the wild and vulnerable—the various classifications between those two—include scimitar-horned oryx, Nubian ibex and European bison, and that a number of others are subject to this in the United States. They are particularly concerned about this issue of disease prevalence that I refer to.

We have got a situation where we have got enough problems with poaching in regard to the decline of the rhinoceros. It was estimated that, with the current state, deaths will overtake births in the next four years. We see a fairly disturbing gross inability of governments to have enough money to give rangers the kind of weaponry that the poachers have. We have got enough difficulties as it is without giving encouragement to people to go out there further. As some people have eluded to, there is also a very big question mark about how some of the younger animals are procured in the first place and whether there are deaths related to that.

I want to join with the speakers and commend what the member described as cruel and barbaric practices. Both he and the member for Fremantle in particular have talked about strengthening Australia's activity around CITES even further, whether it is by a permit system and the minister being involved at the end of the road or whether it is by widening what is not permitted. This is a very important resolution and I am pleased to see that on both sides of the parliament members are concerned by this practice.

John Cobb (Calare, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the member for La Trobe's motion. Firstly, in relation to something the previous speaker referred to, I am not sure 'canned' is a word I would use. 'Fenced', certainly, and obviously a fence, if it is not too big, makes sure they can be found. 'Canned' is a word I would not use. However, perhaps that is semantics. Such shooting is not something I would ever want to be involved in, and I am a person who owns rifles and does quite a bit of shooting—well, I used to. I do not get much time to now.

However, while I totally agree with what the speaker is talking about, I it is not something I would want to do. I think we have got to be very careful how we bring about a result on it. The countries which we are referring to, which are mostly African countries, have shown—and we have always known—that if you put a value on something you actually ensure its survival. I am talking about ordinary hunting and one thing and another. If you are a poacher in those parts of Africa where they do have a value on their wildlife then you are poaching at risk of your life because they will shoot you. The people who run those countries and run those parks go out there looking for poachers. You actually have to pay a lot of money for a licence to go out and legitimately hunt and take trophies home. All those things cost a lot of money and they do provide a lot of jobs.

While I totally agree with and empathise with what the member is saying, how we deal with it is very hard from our end. Those countries where that kind of hunting has gone on could stop the export of trophies far more easily than we. I am not quite sure how Australia could, and I would not want to stop ordinary, legitimate hunting because of it, because the countries concerned have too much to lose. I have known a lot of people that have gone over there. Certainly, I have never met anyone that has confessed to that kind of hunting. It is not hunting, that kind of killing, and I do not doubt that Australians have been involved in it. However, I think it would be a very small percentage of that kind of trophy that comes back to Australia.

I just think that for us to deal with this, it has first got to be dealt with by the country where it occurs. I am not quite sure how it would be done. We could pass a law saying you cannot bring back a trophy that has been hunted in an enclosure where the animal had no opportunity to escape et cetera. How in heaven's name would you ever make that a fact? How would you make that doable? I do not know. It is much more doable in the country of origin. But I do agree with the emphasis of what is being said. It is not something I would ever do. It is not something anyone I have ever gone out shooting with would ever do. It is a shocking way to deal with any animal.

Actually, what is being said not so much about the genetics but about the behaviour of animals, particularly wild animals, in that situation, definitely is true. You can see it any stock you would like to mention, not just wild ones. When you put them in a totally unnatural environment, their habits and everything changes—which is all bad. But I do know that in countries like Namibia, Botswana and the others hunting the proper way is a very big deal for them. It ensures the survival of the animal, because so much value is placed on it. The countries, the hunters, the game parks and everybody involved will hunt down poachers like nothing you have ever seen—and, as I understand it, they generally do not worry too much about taking them back for trial. They place a lot of value on their animals and you pay a lot of money to go there to hunt.

As I said before, I pretty much agree with the emphasis of the motion but I am somewhat at a loss to know how we can deal with it in Australia. I do think any pressure we can put on those countries where it occurs is fine, but they are not going to find it that easy to deal with either, much as it needs to be dealt with.

Debate interrupted.

Proceedings suspended from 13:31 to 16:00