Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) A national recovery plan for the greater bilby was adopted under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) in 2007 and is currently being revised.

Within Queensland, the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection and the Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing are the lead agencies responsible for coordinating the implementation of on-ground actions identified in the national recovery plan.

Predation by feral cats is recognised as a key threatening process under the EPBC Act. A threat abatement plan for predation by feral cats was made to provide national action, guidance and coordination to abate the threat from feral cats on biodiversity.

The Australian Government has recognised that the greatest need in feral cat control is for a broad-scale, cat-specific toxic bait for use in conservation areas. The Curiosity® feral cat bait has been developed and is currently undergoing field trials to gather the necessary efficacy data to register the bait. The government has committed $3.96 million to this project between 1996 and 2012. Once registered and commercialised the Curiosity® feral cat bait will be available to conservation managers.

Threat abatement plans have also been developed for other feral animals that pose a threat to the greater bilby, including foxes and rabbits.

A large part of the greater bilby's Mitchell Grassland habitat in the Channel Country of outback Queensland is included in Astrebla Downs National Park.

At Currawinya National Park an area of 25 square kilometres is protected within an electrified boundary fence built with donations from a not for profit organisation the 'Save the Bilby Fund' and with assistance from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. It is the only site in Queensland where the greater bilby has been reintroduced into the wild.

There are 19 projects totalling over $5.5 million over the past 5 years of the Caring for our Country initiative that directly address threat abatement issues, these were funded through various Business Plans.

Regional funding is provided for the 3 Natural Resource Management Regions, an investment of nearly $20 million over the past 5 years. A significant proportion of this would be used to address threat abatement activities.

(2) In addition to the above, a specific objective identified in the national recovery plan for the greater bilby is to inform and involve the community and all stakeholders in the recovery process.

Community engagement in greater bilby protection is actively being pursued by the 'Save the Bilby Fund'.