Adjournment Debate

RABBITS

Mrs PENFOLD (Flinders) (17:05): The Rann government has taken its eye off the rabbits. In fact, it has been so busy chasing headlines with its environmental projects such as unviable and ineffective wind turbines on government buildings since its term in office that an animal as simple as the rabbit will undermine any environmental credentials the government has ever aspired to. Rabbits continue to destroy our crops and native flora, and are also providing food that is assisting feral cats and foxes to thrive, which are destroying our native fauna.

Project research scientist for arid lands, Katherine Moseby, recently said on ABC Radio:

We have about one cat per square kilometre up here and every release we've done outside our reserve, we've had animals eaten by feral cats. So unless something's done to halt the feral cat and fox problem, we haven't got a hope of getting threatened species back into the landscape on a large scale.

Land confiscated by the government without compensation during coastal freeholding of leasehold land, combined with the land currently being taken under coastal protection and native vegetation legislation, is adding significantly to the government's existing parks and reserves.

This government firmly puts the cost of controlling rabbits on private landholders and takes little to no responsibility for rabbit control that is already a major problem on the huge tracts of land under their ownership and control. Fears of a rabbit plague have again been highlighted recently in The Advertiser by Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia Chairman Tim Rogers. Experts warn that the rabbits are breeding up because of a reduction in control measures, the declining virulence of the calicivirus and the banning of traps and culling. Mr Rogers stated:

We've perhaps got a catastrophe coming and we fear we won't get any help until it hits.

An article in the Eyre Peninsula Tribune in March highlighted the increasing number of rabbit baits being used by landholders this year to control the masses of pests wreaking havoc on their land. Laying baits, although effective, will barely put a dent in Australia's rabbit population when they repopulate so very quickly. Mr Rann loves to tout his supposed green credentials by spending taxpayers' money on projects such as solar panels on the roofs of schools, the airport and showgrounds. While it is all very nice to use solar energy, the reality is that these infrastructure already have power readily available. Our money is being wasted on gimmicks when there are far more urgent environmental needs.

If he really wanted to show how environmentally aware and advanced he is, the Premier should at least be spending equivalent amounts towards eradicating rabbits. By saving native vegetation we will at least be usefully contributing towards controlling greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention preventing the devastating effect on fragile coastal landscapes as out-of-control rabbits devour anything and everything green. It is the state government's responsibility to provide relief to the extreme situation, especially since it is the custodians of our precious coastal and national parks. The state government should be contributing more towards farmers and farming-friendly organisations to enable them to manage effective pest-control programs, and scientists must be given sufficient funds to research a new biological control agent.

Last year the Tasmanian government allocated $12.6 million over four years to the eradication of rabbits and rodents. We do not have to reinvent the wheel, there should be opportunities to work in partnership with other states for a final solution for rabbit eradication throughout Australia. Rabbits cost this country millions of dollars each year through reduced primary production and environmental damage. We have lost several species of native animals and native vegetation due to rabbits, foxes and wild cats. They devour our flora and fauna, killing outright and depriving our native animals of their food.

Rabbits demolish seedlings, preventing the new growth of native trees and shrubs. With the threat of global warming we need more not fewer plants to help absorb the rising CO₂ in the atmosphere before it gets to dangerous levels, reducing the heating of the earth's surface, and the soil and water erosion. I envisage that we can and should create microclimates across Australia that could help significantly to ameliorate the effects of climate change, but to do this rabbits must go. Rabbit numbers are creeping up once again, and they continue to be a significant threat to our land. Last year there was a notable increase in numbers on Eyre Peninsula and Yorke Peninsula.

One farmer advised that when he recently went out with a spotlight he saw about 600 in just one location. The myxomatosis virus introduced in 1950 was generally a success. However, by 1958 the disease had changed and rabbits had become somewhat immune. The virulent Lausanne strain of the myxoma virus was then imported to Australia, and later two rabbit fleas were introduced to assist with the spread of myxomatosis. While this helped to keep rabbit numbers lower for a while it soon became apparent that a stronger control measure was needed. The calicivirus or rabbit haemorrhaging disease (RHD) introduced in 1996 was very successful, particularly in lower rainfall areas, eradicating about 95 per cent of the rabbit population, but was not as successful in the higher rainfall areas of the region.

Benefits were immediate, including revegetation of native flora, more feed for native fauna and livestock and healthier soil. Unfortunately, it is no longer having the same effect on rabbit numbers as it did when it was first introduced, and rabbits have built up low levels of resistance to the RHD as well as myxomatosis. While this was expected, it was hoped that it would not happen so soon. Myxomatosis still controls 40 to 60 per cent of the population and RHD has managed to wipe out 95 per cent, but these biological control methods are not enough alone to wipe out the entire rabbit population.

Rabbits' natural predators—foxes, cats and eagles—help to control the population but feral foxes and cats themselves are a problem. They destroy native fauna, as well as some livestock, and also require control. It takes only a year for rabbits to re-establish their populations. Accordingly, before we know it, we could be back to the days before myxomatosis and calicivirus. A new biological control agent is urgently needed to wipe out the rabbit population once and for all, and it needs to be the final solution. We need to ensure that rabbits will not have a chance to build up a resistance to a new control measure and this destructive introduced species is finally totally wiped out.

The Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia has placed a high importance on the need for biological agents for rabbit control. It is the most cost effective form of rabbit control. It has a relatively low cost to introduce, with long term economic and environmental benefits. Other control methods, such as laying baits and ripping warrens are time consuming for landholders and the cost usually comes out of their own pocket. Even with the use and success of biological control methods, the Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia advises land managers that they should continue to use conventional control methods, such as baits and ripping warrens as well, especially when rabbit numbers are low, to get the best result from the combined use of all control agents.

It is important not to be complacent at a time when the population is still relatively low. This state government needs to take the initiative and allocate funds for research and introduction of a new biological control. There is a need to provide more financial assistance to landholders for pest control, perhaps by offering rebates on baits, traps and warren-ripping machinery. The government must also control the rabbits on its own land.

At the 2008 Eyre Peninsula field days in Cleve, the Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board launched a free informative DVD and booklet instructing landowners how to control rabbits effectively. The DVD (funded by the former Liberal government Australian Natural Heritage Trust program) provides information on all facets of rabbit control. Peter Sheridan, who led the project, has more than 30 years' experience in rabbit control. He has assisted many landholders over the years in successfully eradicating rabbits and now his plan is accessible to all by way of this DVD and booklet. Mr Sheridan stated:

We worked out that the average Eyre Peninsula farm is losing about $4,000 a year in cropping and grazing production because of the damage caused by feral rabbits.

He went on to explain that planning is essential in rabbit control. This resourceful way of distributing crucial pest control information to assist landholders is a proactive approach to rabbit control and I commend the EPNRM for its initiative to instigate such a plan. It is important that landholders and government work together in controlling rabbits.

I have been a member of the Foundation for a Rabbit Free Australia for many years and suggest that others join this proactive organisation to support the eradication of rabbits from our nation. It is vital that this problem is controlled. We need to act fast and wipe out what is left of the rabbit population before Australia, once again, is in the grip of another plague. Just yesterday the Port Lincoln Times reported:

Hot weather has made a dent in rabbit populations in some areas according to Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board biosecurity program manager Iggy Honan.

Mr Honan said in Streaky Bay, Coffin Bay and Port Neill the coastal rabbits were still 'quite bad'. 'We're not completely sure why but obviously think the different weather conditions are interfering with the spread of calicivirus.'

At 17:17 the house adjourned to Thursday 5 March 2009 at 10:30.