Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) welcomes and congratulates the Government for banning the importation of African lion hunting trophies and its participation in helping end the practice of canned hunting;

(2) acknowledges and commends the Government for its elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn ban for products produced after 1975 but recognises that these bans need to be implemented for all products produced prior to 1975 as well;

(3) notes that elephants and rhinoceroses are facing extinction due to poaching with:

(a) one elephant dying every 15 minutes for its tusks;

(b) one rhinoceros dying every 8 hours for its horn;

(c) less than 400,000 African elephants remaining; and

(d) less than 27,000 rhinoceroses remaining;

(4) notes with concern that we can still buy and sell elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn in Australia, which is part of the problem;

(5) notes the sadistic and cruel method poachers use when harvesting elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn;

(6) recognises that this ban is not about attacking legal hunters, it is about stopping illegal poaching and illegal trading in elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn; and

(7) calls on all governments to help Australia be part of the solution and prohibit the domestic trade of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn, additionally to set up an infringement fine system, offense provisions and penalties.

Leonard Joel is one of Australia's biggest auction houses and the largest trader of rhino horn and ivory. In Australia, a kilo of rhino horn sells for up to $68,000, whilst ivory tusks sell for up to $8,000. This is good money for an auction house, so I put out huge congratulations to John Albrecht at Leonard Joel Auction House for enacting a ban on the sale of rhino horn and ivory from 1 January this year. John made the point to me that Leonard Joel wanted to take the sophistication away from the ivory and rhino horn trade and reveal it for what it truly is.

In August this year I met with experts on this matter at Melbourne Zoo. I would like to thank Donalea Patman, director of For the Love of Wildlife, who is the local resident who brought this issue to my attention; Dr Lynne Johnson, director of Breaking the Brand; Nicholas Duncan, President, SAVE African Rhino Foundation; Fiona Gordon, from Gordon Consulting; and, finally, Rod Campbell, from the Australia Institute. They advised me that, in 10 years, it will be very rare to see these animals in the wild, if not impossible, because they could be extinct. They wanted me to be aware that, every 15 minutes, an elephant dies for its tusks and, every eight minutes, a rhino dies for its horn.

I acknowledge the work the government has undertaken in its efforts to ban rhino horn and ivory products in Australia produced prior to 1975, and I congratulate the former environment minister, Greg Hunt, on that. But I recognise bans need to be implemented for all products produced prior to 1975 as well. Today I call on all governments to help Australia and be part of the solution, and prohibit the domestic trade of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn.

We need to understand the sadistic and cruel methods poachers use when harvesting rhino horn and elephant ivory. These violent poachers carefully sneak up behind these beautiful creatures. Often the rhinos are so young they are still at their mother's side. First they hack at the rhino's ankles, preventing them from running away and putting them in such agony that they are unable to fight back. Then they hack off the rhino's face with a machete, leaving the tortured and mutilated animal to bleed to death in excruciating pain, as the mother helplessly watches. These brutalities are used to acquire elephant tusks as well, and I've actually sadly witnessed this in videos. However, some elephants are instead poisoned with cyanide through their water source, resulting in a slow and excruciatingly painful death. This is how dire the situation can be when it comes to the entire food chain, with other animals eating toxic carcasses.

This illegal wildlife trade is worth around US$5 billion to US$10 billion each year, making it the fourth most profitable global crime, only behind drugs, human trafficking and firearms. Poachers are paid an average of $12,000 per rhino. This is what fuels this brutal industry. Their incentives need to be taken away from them. The market for these products is unregulated, with no requirements of evidence of a product's origin, import history or age. I believe that as a nation we need to completely close Australia's market for ivory and rhino horn. That's why I'm calling for an Australian trade ban which prohibits the domestic commercial trading of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn; prohibits the international trade and import and export of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn from Australia; allows the commercial trade in musical instruments that contain only small amounts of ivory, allows the non-commercial exchange of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn specifically for bona fide scientific, education and law enforcement purposes; allows for the distribution of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn to legal beneficiaries; sets up an infringement fine system with offences, provisions and penalties; and allows for importation of elephant and rhino parts gained through official hunting permits approved by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, otherwise known as CITES.

I would like to make the strong point that this is not about legal hunters; it is about going after the poachers. African states such as Zimbabwe are now imposing necessary and very harsh penalties. In Zimbabwe convicted poachers of rhino horn and elephant ivory will now receive nine years. These products should not have the material value, and trading in them is investing in incredible cruelty. Australia must stop this practice.

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