Wednesday, 27 November 2024

Reptile breeding

David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (19:03): (1327) My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Minister for the Environment. What happens in Victoria if you are an expert reptile breeder and so passionate about conservation that you turn your property into a wildlife sanctuary, spending almost $200,000 of your own money to do so? Well, in the state of Victoria, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action will tell you to kill the endangered animals that you have been successfully breeding on your property because you cannot count them.

I have seen the government and the bureaucratic machine that it wields do some crazy stuff in my time in this place, but putting the COVID stuff aside, this one is right up there. Last week I travelled to Berringa, south of Ballarat, to visit Roy Pails, who is well known amongst the herpetology community as one of the best and most prolific reptile breeders in Australia. After shifting his focus to conservation, Roy, at his own expense, put up fox- and cat-proof fencing around his property, allowing endangered wildlife to live well and breed in the wild on his property. This should be hailed as a conservation success story, with the animals helping to remove the African weed orchid from his property.

The work on his property has led to a collaboration with the first ever genomic DNA analysis of the critically endangered woylie, or brush-tailed bettong. There may be some valid concerns about inbreeding of animals, but Roy has already received commitments from other sanctuaries that would be willing to exchange wildlife to mitigate this. This is on top of businesses and universities offering collaboration and research opportunities. From everything that I have learned reading about this project and going down to visit Roy, he should be considered a conservation hero and nominated for an award. Universities and conservation groups should be visiting to see what an ambitious conservation project can achieve. But no, here in Victoria Roy has been told to either remove the fences, which would kill the animals, or cage them, which would also kill them. I simply cannot fathom this level of boneheaded bureaucracy. Why anyone bothers to do anything worthwhile without some lame government grant is beyond me. My request for action for the minister is simple: please fix this situation. This is your department that is about to destroy a successful, voluntary conservation project that should be a model for others. Please fix this. Work with the department to find a way to allow this sanctuary to continue.