Northern Victoria Region
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (14:54): (658) My constituency question is for the Minister for Environment. Like all native animals, this government also hates kangaroos and joeys, and over the break one of the main wildlife shelters in my electorate was given notice to close for failing to meet a series of unfeasible improvement requests. My region is home to an extraordinary number of native animals, and Hepburn Wildlife Shelter is their lifeline. The demands on them include drastically reconfiguring their set-up to ensure birds are not in sight of paddock animals and no animals are housed indoors. These are common practices for many shelters and pose no threat to the welfare of those in care. Caring for wildlife is extremely challenging work, and rehabilitators do their absolute best with minimal support provided by this government. We are headed into one of the busiest periods with increased holiday road strike and the threat of bushfires. My constituents want to know if the minister will intervene to resolve this issue before Hepburn Wildlife Shelter is forced to close.