Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) the fact that the southern cassowary is listed as endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and that estimates of the remaining population range from 1 000 to 4 000 individuals,

(ii) the recovery plan for the southern cassowary, published in 2007, which estimated a total cost for recovery of the southern cassowary of $994 000 over 5 years, including $50 000 for a cassowary rescue program, and

(iii) the funding uncertainty surrounding the Garners Beach Cassowary Rehabilitation Centre, which has reportedly seen local vets instructed to euthanase injured adult cassowaries and their then-orphaned chicks, rather than sending them for care in the Centre; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to:

(i) urgently update the recovery plan and ensure that it is implemented, including by prioritising habitat protection and restoration, allocating adequate funding for reducing vehicle strikes, protection from predation by dogs, rehabilitation and protection from other threats, and

(ii) work with the Queensland State Government and urgently consider providing federal funding to allow the Garners Beach Cassowary Rehabilitation Centre to remain open to rehabilitate orphan cassowary chicks, and to expand its operations to enable injured adult cassowaries to be cared for.