Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes the second Sunday of September is Australia's National Bilby Day;

(b) acknowledges the long-term commitment of conservationist, Mr Frank Manthey, to address the plight of the bilby and his efforts to raise community awareness of the need to secure the future of the bilby and other endangered Australian fauna; and

(c) congratulates the Mayor of Ipswich, Mr Paul Pisasale, and the Ipswich community on the organisation of the inaugural community National Bilby Day celebrations on Sunday, 13 September 2015.

Mr Deputy President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I particularly want to draw to the attention of the chamber the extraordinary work of Mr Frank Manthey. Some people in this area would know Mr Manthey from his work in the area of conservation, particularly around the bilby, because he lobbied so strongly to ensure that this day was actually registered as a national day in, I think, 2005. His work continues, and I think it is particularly important that we engage communities across the nation to be part of this process. You will note that in this motion I have referred to the Ipswich community, which last Sunday inaugurated their day, and my understanding is that it was a very successful function and there was great engagement around the issues of conservation generally and, in particular, saving the bilby, which is such an important part of our wildlife.

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, I seek leave to make a short statement on bilbies.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Frank Manthey should be congratulated on his efforts to promote bilby conservation. He recently attended the threatened species summit hosted by the Minister for the Environment. At the summit, Minister Hunt announced a target to turn around the trajectory of 20 mammals by 2020. The bilby was named as one of these priority mammals. Also announced at the summit was an investment of over $6.6 million towards threatened species recovery. This includes projects to help bilbies through controlling feral cats in South Australia and establishing a 100,000 hectare feral-free area at Newhaven wildlife sanctuary in the Northern Territory.

Question agreed to.