Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

condemns the failure of Tasmania’s Minister for Tourism, Arts and the Environment, Ms Paula Wriedt, to respond reasonably and adequately to the environmental crisis caused by the explosion in the number of rats and rabbits on the World Heritage-listed Macquarie Island; and

(b)

calls on the Tasmanian Government to accept its responsibilities for reversing the extraordinary damage to the island’s native plant life and threat to its wildlife by:

(i)

immediately matching the Federal Government’s offer to pay half of the $24.6 million required for a rescue plan,

(ii)

rejecting Ms Wriedt’s contention that World Heritage areas are ‘locked up’ and a ‘cost burden’, and

(iii)

having the Tasmanian Premier, Mr Paul Lennon, intervene, if necessary, to ensure adequate action is taken before winter closes important options.

Question put.