Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This evening I rise to make an adjournment speech on two families—the Malou family and the Irwin family. In October last year I had the fortune to meet a lovely Sudanese family through some Labor friends who tirelessly devote every Thursday to tutoring the five children in this family. They are Phil and Dawn Chapel. They started tutoring the children about 18 months ago through the St Vincent’s tutorial program. The members of the Sudanese family are mother Rosa, daughters Rania and Margaret, and brothers Joseph, Robert and Botros Malou.

Digressing slightly, in November 2008 I attended the opening of the Australian wildlife hospital, representing the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon. Peter Garrett. Steve Irwin converted an old avocado packing shed into the Australian wildlife hospital in 2004. The hospital was built in memory of his mother, Lyn Irwin, who was a pioneer in wildlife care and rehabilitation. At the opening, Terri Irwin, her children, Wes Mannion and I unveiled the new Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors Australian Wildlife Hospital. The new $5 million, state-of-the-art wildlife hospital will continue in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to care for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. The Australian government generously contributed $2.5 million towards the $5 million facility. The hospital specialises in the care of koalas and sea turtles but currently receives over 5,500 patients of all species each year, the majority of which are birds and reptiles. The hospital provides a vital veterinary service to the hundreds of volunteer wildlife rescuers and carers operating in the region.

Having received an invitation to revisit Australia Zoo, I arranged for the Malou family to visit the zoo with me. This special day was a highlight in December, not only for the Malou family but also for me. It was truly amazing. Wes Mannion, a long-term member of the zoo staff and a lifetime mate of Steve Irwin, met us at the gate. He spent the greater part of the day showing us the highlights of the zoo. We first went to the wombat enclosure and met the marsupials. This was followed by a trip through the snake enclosure. I was interested in hearing Wes’s commentary on the reptiles. He was very conversant with those particular species. Next stop for us was the ‘Crocosseum’. The show there was provided by various attendants, including Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin, and Wes. It is truly amazing to see their professional delivery of this show. Their introductions were backed up by timely humour, and the crowd was involved from the start to the end of the show.

Having not been to the zoo since visiting some 15 years ago with my own family, this visit was an excellent opportunity to see first-hand the brilliant achievements of the dedicated Irwins and their staff over this time. After visiting the ‘Crocosseum’ we went and visited various other enclosures. We met a variety of different types of animals. Australia Zoo is one of the biggest employers on the Sunshine Coast, with 629 staff, of whom 92 per cent reside in the local area. Australia Zoo’s philosophy is that if one animal could be saved then an entire species could be saved. Australian Wildlife Warriors are practising that philosophy every day around the world by contributing to the health of our environment and the wellbeing of wildlife. Australia Zoo is their major sponsor, funding all the administrative costs of the charity to ensure that all donations received are contributed towards the conservation and preservation of wildlife and habitat.

The objectives of the zoo are: to protect and enhance the natural environment; to provide information and education to the public and raise awareness of wildlife issues; to undertake biological research; to research, make recommendations on and act for the protection of threatened or endangered species; and to enter into cooperative arrangements with like-minded organisations. Not long after lunch we went to another enclosure where we were fortunate enough to meet the lemurs. For those people who are not aware of this species, they come from Madagascar. They are quite shy animals but with a bit of enticing with some food they were quickly eating out of our hands. Not far from there we went to the enclosure of the southern white rhinos and met one of the rhino boys: Swazi. I was amazed how placid this two-tonne animal was. We were able to hand feed and pat this incredible beast. From there we walked through the tropical bird sanctuary to the kangaroo enclosure, where Botros met his favourite marsupial: the kangaroo. We then travelled to the next location to hand feed three Asian elephants: Siam, Sabu and Bimbo. These huge mammals selectively picked fruit from our hands with their trunks and quickly put it into their mouths, only inches from us.

I would like to reflect on one of the objectives of the Irwins—that is, the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve. The latest campaign the zoo is involved in concentrates on the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve. The reserve was acquired by Australia Zoo in July 2007 through the Australian government’s National Reserve System Program. The acquisition of the reserve was an Australian government initiative to honour the work of Australia’s world-leading nature conservationist Steve Irwin. Australia Zoo is managing the reserve entirely for conservation purposes while providing for appropriate sustainable economic and cultural opportunities for traditional owners. The reserve comprises a total area of 135,000 hectares and is situated in the catchment of the Wenlock and Ducie rivers. Some 36 ecosystem types have been confirmed to date, comprising six rainforest types, seven wetland-riverine types, three open forest types and 20 tropical woodland types. This represents outstanding biodiversity.

There are several significant elements to note about the reserve. The reserve features four clusters of relic rainforest. These rainforests are listed on the Australian government’s National Heritage register. A series of perched bauxite springs have been located on the bauxite plateau. These springs represent a possible new and rare ecosystem type—and, along with the relic rainforests, a strong possibility exists that traditional Aboriginal medicinal plants of great pharmaceutical importance survive here. The Wenlock River is one of Australia’s most ecologically important rivers. The lower estuarine sections downstream from the reserve likewise provide crucial habitat for rare and threatened marine and estuarine wildlife, including spear-toothed sharks, dugong and Irrawaddy river dolphins. The Tentpole Creek section of the Wenlock system has the best estuarine crocodile nesting habitat in Queensland.

Reserve initiatives include: ongoing wildlife survey and monitoring work, where some 152 bird, 40 reptile, 14 mammal, 16 amphibian and 44 freshwater fish species have been recorded to date; long-term estuarine crocodile research, where some 15 crocodiles have been fitted with electronic pingers to date; and Arafura file snake research, where six snakes have been fitted with electronic devices and their biology, diving patterns and movements are being researched in Gibson’s Billabong. There has also been freshwater stingray research undertaken. Six rays have been fitted with electronic devices and are being tracked by the same river hydrophones as those used for the crocodiles.

There is currently a threat posed by mining in the area. I am informed that the integrity of the ecological and cultural values of the Steve Irwin Reserve and the long-term potential for economic opportunities for traditional owners are threatened by possible strip mining of bauxite on the western part of the reserve. The subsequent impacts would be irrevocable. They include the lowering of the landscape by three metres or more and the total loss of original biodiversity, including all vegetation, wildlife and the supporting bauxite substrate—which the various ecosystems have taken millennia to evolve and adapt to. The short-term economic benefits of a mine, with a lifespan of approximately 10 to 15 years, are negligible compared with protecting and managing a natural landscape with its intrinsic and in many cases unique natural and cultural values; and associated potential long-term economic benefits to the traditional owners from greenhouse gas emission abatement projects and traditional medicine projects. The area of the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve represents approximately one per cent of the bauxite area on the western Cape York but is of exceptionally high conservation significance.

Recently the Queensland Labor government put forward a proposal to have the Wenlock River listed as a wild river under their special wild rivers legislation. The Queensland government have been involved in a broad consultation process and received submissions regarding this proposal. One respected elder from the Wenlock area in North Queensland who I have had the privilege to meet and who supports the Queensland government’s proposal is Mr David Claudie. He informs me that the listing and protection of the Wenlock River under the wild rivers legislation will lead to employment and better management practices for his people and other non-Indigenous people in that area. I hope the commitments, dreams and beliefs that David and the staff of the Australia Zoo aspire to are met with suitable alternatives to protect this truly amazing and unique part of our country.