David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Fantastic. Since then, Nic has launched his own 2008 devil calendar, expected to raise about $30,000. It is a great calendar. It features pictures of a number of young Tasmanians who responded to a call from Nature Nic. To be considered, each young Tasmanian had to tell him why they thought they were a little Tassie devil. The successful applicants had their quote printed next to their picture. The responses were beautiful and I have to quote a few here, with apologies to those that time constraints force me to omit. Madeleine Fasnacht said, ‘I am a little Tassie devil because I am cheeky and mischievous.’ Kate Tedeschi said, ‘I am a little Tassie devil because I have huge teeth.’ And Emma Langley said, ‘I am a little Tassie devil because I have freckles everywhere—they’re whiskers!’

Nature Nic is being featured in National Geographic, on Totally Wild and has the support of Australia Zoo. Nic’s hero is Steve Irwin. Nature Nic has a dream that Black and White Day can be elevated to a national day of recognition for the Tasmanian devil. As you can imagine, if this day was supported by the thousands of schools around the country, a substantial amount of money could be raised towards ensuring the devil has a future. If such a day achieved its full potential—just one nationally supported Black and White Day—raising enough money to sequence the genome of the Tasmanian devil is a very possible outcome. Many schools on the mainland are already aware of Black and White Day and plan on supporting it in 2008. More than 370 schools have created class projects that specifically focus on how this disease is affecting the Tasmanian devil. This level of support for the Tasmanian devil from interstate schools and businesses is extremely heartening. I note in particular the fundraising contributions from Qantas, Warner Bros, Hartz mineral water and the Mark Webber Challenge Foundation.

Three months ago I wrote to Prime Minister Rudd seeking support for a national Black and White Day. Neither I nor Nature Nic was looking for money or for the day to be given any official status. Rather, we were just hoping that the Prime Minister might provide the moral backing of the government to the cause and administrative or bureaucratic backing and support to the concept—such as sanctioning the observance of the day in public sector workplaces, publicly calling on people to support it or providing advice and assistance to its organisers and Nature Nic in getting the message about it out there to Australians. The response I received from his parliamentary secretary was underwhelming to say the least. It was suggested to me:

… the government considers that community initiatives, such as Black and White Day, should generally evolve without government involvement.

As noted, I am not asking the government to involve themselves to any great extent. But I still encourage them to put their stamp of approval on the concept of a national Black and White Day and acknowledge that the people of Australia want to support this cause. My belief is that the government can be proactive and work to support a national day for the Tasmanian devil, as was done with the bilby in 2005. Having Black and White Day recognised nationally is something that has been raised by Nature Nic with all state education ministers. Tasmania’s education minister is actively promoting the idea to our schools, but Nature Nic and I would like to see this level of support from other states and territories as well. A public statement of support from the Prime Minister would help significantly.

There is a lesson to be learned from the path to extinction travelled by the Tasmanian tiger. Just months after being confirmed as endangered, it was declared extinct. National Threatened Species Day was created as a tribute to the Tasmanian tiger and should help us to remember that a different approach is required if we are to protect our unique fauna. As mentioned, it is estimated that more than 50 per cent of the pre-disease population of devils have already been wiped out by DFTD. Last November they were listed as endangered. We should now do what we can to help them, or choose to sit by as their numbers dwindle down to dangerously low levels—and possibly even the threat of extinction. Three things are crucial for the success of any proposed solution to this disease: time, money and support. All three are linked but ultimately it is money that will deliver the solution. I call this evening for public support for a national Black and White Day on 16 May.