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

I wish to speak on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement's inquiry into trade in elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn. I congratulate the chair, Craig Kelly, for his magnificent work, Senator Lisa Singh for her great work and local resident Donalea Patman from For the Love of Wildlife.

Sadly, every 15 minutes an elephant dies and there are only 400,000 left. In 2016 alone 35,000 were killed. Every several hours a rhino is killed and there are only 35,000 left in the world. Australia can play a key role in this. How? We can take on the poachers. The poachers are making money from killing these noble, beautiful creatures. The nation of Australia could take the sophistication and value away from this activity by implementing a complete domestic ban on the trade of elephant ivory and rhino horn. This would do so much to send the message across the world that Australia is doing its bit to protect elephants and rhinos. This is a day for all parliamentarians and all Australians to be very proud of: this report recommends a complete ban on the trade of elephant ivory and rhino horn.