Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Friday I attended the AGM of the South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare, also known as SERCUL, in my electorate. It was great to see their chairperson, Pat Hart, and CEO, Julie Robert. I want to send a message to Julie: to wish her all the best in the battle with cancer that she is going through at the moment. It was also great to see Russell Gorton from the Wilson Wetlands Action Group and all the other people who participated.

The South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare also launched Mozzie Wise, an education program for primary schools and the community, with assistance from the City of Canning and the government of Western Australia. As their member, I said that I would raise it in the parliament and make sure that the message got out. I have also passed on information about the program to the Minister for the Environment. Basically, the message is that the community needs to be aware that, particularly along the Swan River, mosquitoes are always active during the warmer months, with their population at its greatest during spring, summer and early autumn, particularly following rainfall or unusually high tides.

There are many mosquito-borne diseases in Western Australia: the Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus, Murray Valley encephalitis and the Kunjin virus. There are no antidotes for any of those viruses, so people do suffer from them. The message is: be mosquito-wise and protect your family and your children. The information is available from SERCUL at their Cannington base.