Wildlife Ethics Committee

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:26): Supplementary: I invite the minister to consider whether he is concerned by the number of endangered species that have been killed through these experiments, as reported to the Wildlife Ethics Committee?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:26): As I say, I am not aware of any particulars the Hon. Ms Franks might be referring to. Whether they are using endangered animals, that would surprise me.

The Hon. T.A. Franks: You would be surprised.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, there may be real reasons for that. In fact, if you are dealing with research into, for example, the facial tumours that affect Tasmanian devils, then you may well be experimenting on native animals and endangered species, but that is to actually improve the outcomes for those species. However, in most medical research and models you use animals that have some translation to the human sphere so that you can be convinced that any intervention you take on an animal has some replicability in terms of human models. That has been built up over many years in terms of rats, pigs and other animals that are used in research that is aimed at medical research for human conditions.

Again, I will look into that and consider whether that is an issue, but as I say, you would expect there to be research on native animals if the point of the research is to actually protect those native animals and arrive at cures, as, for example, in terms of the Tasmanian devil.