Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That—

(a) the Senate notes that:

  (i) the German-based Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) received permission to export 232 birds between 2015 and November 2018 for exhibition purposes,

  (ii) among the birds exported were endangered Carnaby's black cockatoos, vulnerable Baudin's black cockatoos, naretha bluebonnets, gang-gang cockatoos and mutation varieties of king parrots and galahs,

  (iii) the legal import and export of rare and endangered birds is governed by the 1975 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), of which Australia and Germany are signatories, and

  (iv) the ACTP has no facilities freely open to the public; and

(b) there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment, by 15 February 2019, all documents and correspondence, including meeting minutes, that set out the owners of parrots that were supplied for the ACTP prior to the consignments being collated for export.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Department of the Environment and Energy's office of compliance is reviewing the allegations made by the German association to determine whether to launch a formal investigation under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Releasing the names of the previous owners of the birds that were not directly involved in the export process would be a contravention of their privacy. This could discourage people from engaging in good faith with the regulatory process in the future.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that motion No. 1381 be agreed to.