Wednesday, 20 March 2024

Motions

Wildlife rescue

Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (10:21): I move:

That this house:

(1) notes that:

(a) wildlife rescue is a legitimate emergency service that fulfills the government’s responsibility to protect native animals;

(b) rehabilitating wildlife often constitutes more than a full-time job but is largely volunteer led;

(c) rescues have increased 40 per cent since this time last year unaccompanied by any additional funding;

(d) industry and government rely on the work of rescue teams to tranquilise injured and displaced kangaroos, costing $70 for a single Zoletil capsule;

(e) volunteer rescue team, Vets for Compassion, spend upwards of $20,000 annually to dart and relocate kangaroos;

(f) Bravecto has proven to be successful in the treatment of mange in wombats but is inaccessible to carers, costing $80 to $100 per animal;

(g) there are few vaccinated wildlife carers in Victoria equipped to care for threatened grey-headed flying foxes, in part due to the excessive cost of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) injections;

(h) rescuers are without financial and resource supports and resort to savings and superannuation funds;

(i) animal rescuers are struggling to balance paid work with volunteer hours, resulting in many leaving the field;

(j) professionalisation of wildlife rescue will reduce the burden on highly skilled volunteers;

(2) calls on the government to:

(a) investigate a reimbursement program for commonly used but self-funded medicines;

(b) assess the feasibility of trialling paid full-time positions for wildlife rescuers; and

(c) facilitate a round table to provide recommendations on how to further improve and better support the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife in Victoria.

This morning is all about wildlife. I have stood in this place on numerous occasions to talk about the mass deaths here in Victoria. I have spoken about the avoidable massacre of koalas and greater gliders due to intentional deforestation, the killing and displacement of 3 billion animals in Australia during the bushfires of 2019–20, the relentless commercial and non-commercial slaughter of our beloved kangaroos and of course recreational duck shooting, which with this government’s recent seal of approval continues to maim thousands of native waterbirds each and every year. In consequence, I also stood in this place as 48 native species were added to Australia’s endangered species list last year.

So who comes to the rescue of these animals? I can tell you it is clear it is not this government. In their absence it is volunteers. Rescuers and carers are their only lifeline – teachers, vets, mechanics, accountants, retirees, who in their spare time choose to save a life. It is these very volunteers who preserved what was left of Cape Bridgewater’s koala population during an unlawful blue gum clearing in 2020, it is these very volunteers who risk their lives in the blistering heat of annual bushfires to save abandoned animals and it is these very volunteers that spend hours every day cutting up kilograms of donated fruit to feed orphaned flying fox pups during a national food shortage. This community of dedicated and highly skilled rescuers dedicate their lives and themselves to the protection of our wildlife. I bet you are thinking that they sound like any other emergency service, and I am here to tell you that they are. They are overworked and burned out, performing physically demanding and life-altering work. However, a massive distinction remains: this emergency service is completely unpaid and unsupported. Currently, wildlife rescuers are forced to either watch injured animals die horrific and agonising deaths or to use their own savings, time, vehicles and resources to assist. Through the sheer compassion these people hold, they will always choose the latter, rescuing and rehabilitating animals with little to no government assistance at the detriment of their own health, safety and financial stability.

This government states on its own website that rehabilitation of animals by these rescuers is of limited benefit, but they have no problem claiming the biodiversity and ecosystem gains that native animals provide. This is such a gross display of disrespect that very clearly demonstrates just how little the government communicates with or understands the wildlife community. How could anyone possibly understand the impact this work is having if they are choosing not to see it? Not only do wildlife rescuers and carers bear the cost of transport, equipment and the provision of shelter, they also bear the cost of life-saving medical treatments.

Vets for Compassion are a small group of volunteer vets who are some of the only rescuers experienced enough to handle high-risk macropod rescue and relocation in Victoria. I have personally watched them successfully dart and relocate kangaroos from impossible scenes, everything from train tracks, pools, development sites, motorways and backyards. Their work is life saving for the animals involved, but it also significantly benefits the community by keeping Victorians and public areas safe. I cannot understate the demand on them to perform this challenging work. In just one day on the road with their team I travelled to over five locations, spending hours at each site to ensure a successful and stress-free rescue each and every time. The medicine that they use is called Zoletil. It is costing them $70 per vial, which is enough liquid to tranquilise just two adult kangaroos, and if a shot is missed, it is lost. Without government support they rely solely on donations to afford this life-saving drug.

The same is true for wombat carers, who work around the clock to tackle mange, a horrific and deadly infection that, despite the best efforts of volunteers, continues to decimate wildlife populations. Researchers recently had a breakthrough in treatment options with a drug called Bravecto. It is a common medicine that is already used to treat fleas and ticks in our companion animals, but new studies have shown it can have huge success in the treatment of mange when applied topically to wombats. It lasts six times longer than other medicines and is the first mange treatment to be specifically researched for use on wildlife. For the first time in decades, wombat advocates see an end in sight for mange. But the problem is that Bravecto is completely inaccessible to the volunteers who are desperate to use it, at almost $100 per treatment.

I have spoken a few times in this place about the need to protect grey-headed flying foxes in Victoria – or as we like to call them, ‘sky puppies’ – but I will take this opportunity to remind you once again that these remarkable animals are our only nocturnal long-distance pollinator. We rely on them to disperse seed like no other animal can possibly manage, and yet there is only a handful of registered and fully vaccinated carers and vets willing and able to treat them. Part of the reason for this is, despite some government assistance, the costs of receiving ongoing boosters to protect carers and vets from lyssavirus are excessive, only adding to the endless list of resources this cohort is expected to front up themselves. Heartbreakingly, it is volunteers who are forced to perform euthanasia on the bats that will not make it, because they cannot locate a clinic with vaccinated vet staff.

Take this as a warning: it is simply not possible for the current pool of rescuers to keep up with the ever-increasing intake of sick and injured bats, alongside the emotional burden that comes with it, without government support, but this motion seeks to change that. We must put in place a reimbursement system for Zoletil, Bravecto and pre-exposure prophylaxis so that wildlife rescuers do not have to rinse their own superannuation funds to perform this work for the future of our environment and native animals. In fact we must do this for them to continue this work at all, because the burnout experienced by the wildlife community is alarming.

I would like to share with you just a few examples to highlight the sacrifices rescuers are making daily to keep our wildlife alive. Take Jude Lennox, who has been a wildlife carer for over 35 years and is currently a registered carer with Victoria’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, who contact her when native animals require care. Despite receiving most of her call-outs from the department itself, she is not provided with any financial assistance to do what is essentially their job for them. Or take field ecologist Rena Gaborov and her partner Joseph Henderson from Goongerah in far East Gippsland, who lost their home and previous shelter in the 2019–20 bushfires. Despite this immeasurable loss, Rena and Joseph have rebuilt and continue to make sacrifices to ensure they can feed the kangaroos in their care, who also lost their homes. They estimate they go through a $590 bag of powdered milk every 40 days, again without any assistance from the government.

One rescuer from Bacchus Marsh, Trevor Crawford, wakes up to at least 14 call-outs for kangaroo rescues before 9 am on any average day. His weekly travel exceeds 1300 kilometres, costing over a thousand dollars per week in petrol to rescue between 25 and 45 kangaroos. He has noticed a large percentage of rescuers and shelters have exited the field recently. With shelters struggling to stay in operation, animals are being transported up to 2 hours away for treatment just to reach the nearest facility. Trevor’s work often involves rescuing kangaroos and wallabies from suburban yards, schools and swimming pools. Most days he will bear witness to horrific injury and death, yet he is still waiting to receive even a scrap of acknowledgement from this government for his crucial life-saving work. One thing Trevor shared encapsulates the severity of the position that our rescuers are in. He told me:

My fellow rescuers are very skilled; passionate and capable. It breaks my heart to see how stressed and worn out they are. Some have even been told by doctors – you need to stop, or you will die. How can we be in this position. How can we be left to destroy our financial future and potentially our lives trying to rescue the very animals that keep Australian tourism alive.

This motion also calls on the government to, for the very first time, listen to the concerns of this workforce they rely on each and every day. I am asking the government to do this through roundtable discussions as a first step to establishing an ongoing communication channel that is long overdue.

Wildlife Victoria recently revealed that rescues have increased 40 per cent since this time last year, and volunteers are filling in to meet demand where this government has failed. Not only are they relying on their devotion, but they are exploiting their compassion. As a final request to the government today I am asking that they finally investigate how to professionalise this workforce into the future. As a bare minimum we need to pay these rescuers in every region of Victoria, and this is needed because they cannot keep up with those phone calls. They cannot disperse the work between themselves. They are dropping their paid shifts in order to attend to these animals and using the very little money that they do make at work to pay for their care. Their burnout levels are so severe that they are exiting in droves, meaning that animals are travelling long distances across parts of Victoria, particularly in my electorate, Northern Victoria, where animals will be transported for hours before they even receive treatment. What that means is that animals left in care at the shelter need attention, and these wildlife rescuers are spending all of their time and all of their nights tending to our native animals without any support at all. By professionalising this workforce and paying parts of it, we can support the remaining volunteer workforce and ensure that all call-outs are attended to, because that is the reality right now – that animals are suffering on roads and in public spaces for hours before a rescuer can even get to them.

The answers on treating our threatened wildlife are being laid out before you today. The hard work is already being done by the volunteers, who are often balancing full-time jobs to perform a function that this government omits. All that is left for you to do is to support them by voting in favour of it. Do not wait until our national icons are extinct, with no excuse but to say we did not listen to the pleas of volunteers or to shamefully admit that we simply did not want to help them. If you cannot find it within yourself to care for our wildlife, then at the very least I invite you to care for the people who are suffering at the hands of this government’s neglect. These reforms are the very bare minimum of what these rescuers and animals are owed and deserve. For the people of this place to reject this reform would be to sentence thousands of animals to their deaths or to bury rescuers both financially and emotionally, so I commend the motion to the house.

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:33): I also rise to speak on motion 350, which has been put forward to us by Ms Purcell, and I am very pleased to be speaking in favour of this motion today. At the outset I would like to acknowledge the incredible work of our state’s rescuers and wildlife volunteers –

Georgie Purcell interjected.

Michael GALEA: I appreciate that, Ms Purcell. I do very much appreciate them. They work incredibly hard most of the time as volunteers – they are not being paid – to care for animals at the times when they need it the most. We often talk about the amazing heroes of our communities, both paid and unpaid, most notably nurses and emergency services, and I think that far too often wildlife carers and volunteers are the unsung heroes that operate day in, day out. Growing up in a very outer suburban, exurban part of Melbourne, it was all too common to see the yellow road signs with the number for Wildlife Victoria. I had a vague understanding that there was a service you could call, but growing up I did not have a great deal of understanding of just how that worked.

Fortunately for me, I recently had the opportunity to actually spend an afternoon with the team at Wildlife Victoria, and I want to at the outset acknowledge and thank both Lisa Palma, their CEO, and also Meg Butler from their team for graciously welcoming me and having me there to see what they do firsthand. It was a really good experience for me to be able to see just what our wildlife carers are actually doing. I was able to visit their headquarters in Abbotsford and I saw firsthand the call centre. Frankly, at first impression I was very impressed given the scale of the operation that they operate from in that call centre. It was not two people sitting around a desk, it was teams, it was screens, it was notice boards and whiteboards, all coordinating their responses to be as effective as possible with the limited resources they have. I think it is fair to say that with those limited resources they have done an outstanding job. Victoria is actually just one of two states that has a statewide wildlife response service,

Georgie Purcell interjected.

Michael GALEA: And they are very busy. In other states even services such as that are much more ad hoc and organised locally, so we are in fact quite lucky to have Wildlife Victoria operating the way it does, working day in and day out to support people as they need it.

I had the opportunity to listen in to a couple of the calls came through to the call centre, and I would like to also thank Jess the call taker for patiently explaining to me the process and guiding me through as we had calls about some wildlife. It was actually a very, very hot day on the day that I was with them – it was about a month ago, just a few days prior to the dreadful storms – so there were a lot of heat-related distress calls that were being received by the centre that day. It was great to hear that professional, patient advice being given. Many of the call takers, Jess included, are currently undertaking studies in this space and looking to expand and continue to work in this space once they graduate, so it is a really perfect fit for them to be able to do that work and support the public in the process.

Of course I did not get to go out to five in one day like Ms Purcell did, but I did have the opportunity to see Lisa Palma switch hats from CEO to volunteer as we went out onto the road to do a wildlife rescue. We rescued a possum from the back of a doctor’s clinic in Prahran, which had very sadly had a form of concussion from I believe hitting its head on a pipe and also some heat-related stress as well. We were able to rescue that possum, escort it away safely and take it to their veterinary clinic in Nunawading where fortunately, with the good care and support of their Dr Tian, who is an amazing veterinarian doctor who went to work, that possum has now had a full recovery as I understand, which is really lovely to see.

The work that Wildlife Victoria does and wildlife rescuers big and small do right across this state is something that all too often goes unnoticed, but it is something that I really think bears paying attention to. It is also why I am so pleased to be rising in support of this motion today, because the more support that we can provide in this space the better the outcomes for our wildlife will be – the better the biodiversity and environmental outcomes of course too – but above all it is about ensuring that these precious animals are supported and given the best care, love and support possible in their times of distress. So I strongly encourage anyone who is in this place who is interested in finding out more about their work to reach out and engage with them to see exactly what they do. Of course I encourage members of the community more broadly as well to absolutely engage if you see an animal on the road, in a park, wherever you are out and about, even in your backyard. If it is in distress, if it is part of our wildlife or one of our native animals, please absolutely do reach out to Wildlife Victoria.

In one of their recent annual reports they provided a snapshot of the species which they most commonly attend to, and I think those figures are quite telling and worth mentioning here today. The most common species which they attend to is the ringtail possum. In one year they attended to 8501 ringtail possums. The second-most treated animal was the eastern grey kangaroo, 8476; followed by magpies, 3891; then in fourth, brushtail possums, 2391; and in fifth spot, rainbow lorikeets, 2245. As you can see, they are quite extreme numbers. While some of the staff such as the call takers are paid, the vast majority if not all of those rescuers are in fact volunteers. It is a really, really wonderful service, and I want to acknowledge again the hard work of those people who day in and day out care for our native wildlife. It is a very special thing.

I think as a species we should often be marked on how we treat those most vulnerable in our communities and in our societies but also marked on how we treat our precious animals, so full appreciation from me to Wildlife Victoria. It is also why I am so pleased to be speaking for a motion that will provide more attention to this space. I know that it is something that Minister Dimopoulos is particularly interested in as well, and I am very grateful to him that he has been so willing to engage on this topic. I look forward to having further conversations myself with Minister Dimopoulos, as I am sure others in this chamber have and will continue to do so, including Ms Purcell, about getting the best outcome here and about getting that change where we need it, because I know he is particularly interested in that as well.

Of course it would not be the first investment that this government has made in this space. We have made available about $5.4 million in funding specifically for wildlife rescue and wildlife foster carers since we have been in government as part of a package of $582 million more broadly to biodiversity support. Earlier this year in fact we did also see the latest round of the Allan Labor government’s wildlife rehabilitator grants program, which does provide up to $3000 in funding to wildlife shelter operators and foster carers. There is also an additional $230,000 to support 102 wildlife organisations, which has included 34 wildlife shelters amongst them. These grants are all part of the government’s existing commitment, so it is fair to say that there has already been a significant body of work going into this. I welcome the opportunity that we have today to discuss expanding that and doing much more, as much as we can, noting of course that we have had a number of very successful grant applications as part of these programs, which I have just mentioned.

As a member of the government I look forward to continuing to work internally – as I said, Minister Dimopoulos is very keen in this space as well – and look forward to engaging with others in this place, in particular my colleague from the Animal Justice Party Ms Purcell. This is an important issue. The way in which we treat our native wildlife is very important. We do have a variety of challenges that they are facing. Without going too much into the other controversial topic which we have already spoken about this morning, when it comes to native bird life what our committee report last year found overwhelmingly was that the biggest contributors to their population decline were climate change and land use. That is something that we need to be mindful of for all our species, especially as our suburbs continue to grow. There are a lot of exciting things happening in the planning space too under Minister Kilkenny for realigning that as part of the housing statement so we are not continually protruding into more and more growth areas, which will of course support our wildlife as well. I could keep talking much more, but my time is up. I commend the motion to the house.

Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:44): I rise to speak on motion 350, and this is a matter close to my heart in fact. A couple of years ago, in 2022, I convened a forum of wildlife rescuers from across Victoria. We met in Whittlesea, and I sat down and asked them, ‘What is it we can do for you to help your work?’ It was an incredibly educational experience. The first thing to understand of course is that the amount of road deaths of our native animals is jaw dropping. I think if the wider community understood that, they would be scandalised by what it is. What also I learned and began to admire is that the amount of volunteer work done by those wildlife rescuers, often in very awkward and unpleasant situations, is in effect a service they are performing for the community out of sight and out of mind of the mainstream community. We actually owe them a great debt of gratitude because they do those services in their own hours, at their own cost and at their own emotional cost a lot as well.

Obviously cleaning up dead carcasses on the edge of the road is not pleasant, and if you are doing that relentlessly, day after day, and rescuing a joey or an infant animal, it is very, very unpleasant. A lot of people do not realise that the council’s role typically begins and ends at moving the carcass off the carriageway, and then they leave it, and it is up to a volunteer to come and then actually rescue or dispatch or untangle or gather up the remains. It is very unpleasant work. The distances that these people have to travel to do it is sometimes significant. When we talk about euthanising some of these poor injured animals, I know that we only have about four licensed people in the whole of the state to go and dispatch them, so they have to travel in some cases 300 kilometres to do it.

There is an awful lot in the motion that I look at and that is familiar to me, and I think, yes, that is right. As to the demands on them, I can take away all the emotional stuff and just talk about the tangible, practical things you can do. The biggest impost on them is cash flow, because the way the system works now they incur all the costs to do all this service and they can put in a claim to get it reimbursed at the end of 12 months. So their cash flow is directly impacted. And cash flow is not merely just petrol and time. Cash flow literally is that they have to pay for the bullets that they use to euthanise the animal as well. The cost of rescuing a kangaroo, if you get a little joey, from getting it to some point where it can be reintroduced into the wild is anything between $800 and $1400 per animal as well, so I do believe that there is more we can do to support them.

I think this motion has some key elements, but there are others that are not there: the cash flow part, the travel part and the counselling. I think they are a form of first responder, and they do carry a psychological burden for doing so, so they should have some access to counselling and mental health services. One of the other really big areas I think we can improve on is data. At the moment the animal rescue community, if I can call it that, is actually not one community, it is several communities. I do not want to use the word ‘fractured’, but they are different ecosystems if you like. So the data gathering that goes on actually is also fractured. Whilst we have some numbers from Wildlife Vic and from government here and there, we actually do not have a proper, comprehensive view of what is going on. Most importantly, from my perspective, we do not have, for example, heat maps of which animals are getting injured where and in what quantities. We do not actually know as a state where we should be making the improvements to road design or urban design or creating animal passageways, because we are not collating the data properly. If we did that properly, we would then have more effective responses, and then the burden on the rescuers could I think be substantially lessened.

The only real area that we disagree with here is the idea of professionalising this group, and it is not because I do not respect the work they do. It is quite the opposite, actually – it is because I do respect the work they do. Wildlife rescuers generally do this as a vocation because they love animals and because they have an absolute life passion for what they are doing about it, and I think that ethos would fundamentally change if we professionalised it. It would simply have the effect of hollowing out that volunteer group, pushing the volunteers out and bringing a professional class in, and suddenly some of the things that the volunteers do would fall outside the remit of their job description, and you would find that a lot of the things that they do above and beyond what anyone would normally do would not get done. I think the ultimate result would be a very expensive bureaucracy that does a worse job at actually tending to these animals. I think rather than replacing volunteers we should be focusing on empowering them, and there are simple, practical things we can do to empower them so that they can continue to do the extraordinary work they do.

Of course we should look at urban design and we should look at simplifying the way animal injuries are reported, because that is also very, very difficult. There are little signposts: you are travelling at 100 kilometres an hour on a freeway and a signpost flashes by you and you are meant to be able to remember the number and type in a nine- or 10-digit number as you travel. I think there are more practical things to do, and there is already a community doing it. So I think we should empower them and make some fundamental changes before we add a bureaucracy, which I think will do less. We will not support this just on that basis, but I encourage everyone to continue to contemplate and work in this area. I hope to be part of that. I will leave my contribution there.

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (10:50): I commend Ms Purcell for bringing forward this motion for debate. Wildlife rescue volunteers and organisations have been really clear that they are being called on to rescue more birds and animals. They are victims of the frontline impact of climate change, of habitat and biodiversity loss, of the variable weather patterns we are experiencing – extreme heat, storms and cold snaps – and of growing urbanisation. All of that means that our wildlife have fewer wild places to live in and be safe. This year of course all the brave people who rescue injured and maimed ducks through the duck-shooting season will continue to have to do so, given Labor’s shameful decision to green-light further shooting of our native ducks in 2024.

Wildlife are incredibly important for our biodiversity and for environmental health. They are impacted daily at the grassroots level, and wildlife rescuers are on the front line. I had the privilege last year of visiting Wildlife Victoria, the state’s largest rescue organisation, and I was so pleased that day that I got the chance to meet an orphaned baby ringtail possum and also Apple, the wombat joey, who will stay in my heart forever. Wildlife Victoria operates 24/7. They take over 110,000 calls from the public each year for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. They are a not-for-profit service that saves the lives of thousands of native animals each year, day after day all across our state.

We have heard contributions in the chamber on just how hard that work is, just how much personal initiative is shown by volunteers and their passion for rescuing these animals. They fill a key gap that would otherwise exist in our government services. Demand for rescue services has grown year on year, and last year we saw a 50 per cent increase in calls from the public at Wildlife Vic compared to the same time last year. For that level of increase alone, more funding and support is required. We have heard that it is being experienced across the state and that there are currently many activities being undertaken out of pocket by volunteers. I am very pleased to hear that the government will be looking at this issue. I thank Ms Purcell again for bringing this issue to the chamber. More funding and support are clearly required across the sector, and the Greens will be supporting this motion.

John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (10:53): I rise to speak on the motion regarding wildlife carers of Ms Purcell. The motion notes that (a) wildlife rescue is a legitimate emergency service that fulfills the government’s responsibility to protect Victoria’s native animals, (b) rehabilitating wildlife often constitutes more than a full-time job but is largely volunteer led without compensation, (c) rescues have increased 40 per cent since this time last year unaccompanied by any additional funding to reflect this increase, (d) industry and government rely on the work of rescue teams to tranquilise injured and displaced kangaroos, costing rescuers $70 for a single capsule of Zoletil, (e) volunteer rescue team, Vets for Compassion, spend upwards of $20,000 annually to dart and relocate kangaroos, (f) Bravecto has proven to be highly successful in the treatment of mange in wombats but is currently inaccessible to carers, at a cost of $80 to $100 per animal, (g) there are few vaccinated wildlife carers in Victoria equipped to care for threatened grey-headed flying foxes, in part due to the excessive cost of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) injections, (h) rescuers are without financial and resource supports and resort to savings and superannuation funds to fulfill the demand of animal rescue, (i) animal rescuers are struggling to balance paid work with their volunteer hours, resulting in many leaving the field, (j) professionalisation of wildlife rescue will reduce the burden on highly skilled volunteers across Victoria. The motion also calls on the government to (a) investigate a reimbursement program for commonly used but self-funded medicines, including Zoletil, Bravecto and pre-exposure prophylaxis, (b) assess the feasibility of trialling paid full-time positions for wildlife rescuers and (c) facilitate a round table to provide recommendations on how to further improve and better support the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife in Victoria.

The government will not be opposing this motion that has been brought forward by my colleague Ms Purcell. I want to acknowledge first and foremost the hundreds of wildlife carers across Victoria who help to protect our native wildlife. Wildlife carers face down bushfires, floods and even widespread disease, all to save our precious native animals from harm. They help nurse these animals back to health, they give these animals shelter when they need it and they help protect some of the most vulnerable and endangered species in the world. But it is not just disease and natural disasters that they have to deal with – accidents between vehicles and wildlife on the roads are all too common. Last year there were nearly 7000 collisions between vehicles and eastern grey kangaroos alone, which represents about 65 per cent of the total number of reported incidents of animals in Victoria being hit by vehicles. In situations like that wildlife carers and volunteers are essential to helping kangaroos or any other animals get on the mend after colliding with a truck or a car.

Across Victoria there are more than 700 registered volunteer wildlife rehabilitators who play a role in that crucial task of rescuing and caring for injured or sick wild animals in this state. Rehabilitators, care centres and shelters all work in tandem with one other for the common goal of delivering aid to injured and distressed animals across Victoria. These organisations are also properly regulated under the Wildlife Act 1975, ensuring humane and adequate care is being delivered up to standard.

Together we can ensure that we are delivering adequate care to habitats and the environment and to the wildlife. We can do that here today, and we can do that by supporting passionate wildlife carers and their work. Caring for Victoria’s hundreds and thousands of wildlife animals requires a lot of dedicated wildlife carers and volunteers, all of whom are vital to our efforts to preserve our native wildlife and environment. To put it in perspective, there are over 6200 native animals and plants in Victoria. Of that, over a third are of conservation concern, meaning they are rare, endangered or near endangered. Victoria, and Australia as a whole, has a unique ecosystem with native animals found nowhere else in the world. It is important that we do what we can to protect and preserve these species.

Caring for these animals and protecting them is hard work, and I would like to take a moment to acknowledge and thank the Minister for Environment in the other place, Minister Dimopoulos, and Wildlife Victoria, who do fantastic work in protecting our wildlife and native animals. This government is committed to supporting these shelters, rehabilitators and wildlife carers, and I believe the record reflects that clearly. Earlier this year the Minister for Environment announced the recipients of the latest round of the Allan Labor government’s wildlife rehabilitator grants scheme. It helps those wildlife carers and rehabilitators to look after and help injured, sick and orphaned animals in our state. The Victorian wildlife rehabilitators grant is the government’s annual grant program which invests in our state’s various wildlife organisations, such as rehabilitation and volunteer organisations for carers. These are groups that do the hard work in protecting our native wildlife and help nurse sick and injured animals back to health as well as looking after those animals that have been orphaned or otherwise stranded.

The latest round of the wildlife rehabilitator grants has now issued $230,000 to 102 different wildlife organisations, all of whom contribute to the rehabilitation and care of Victoria’s wildlife. Foster carers and wildlife shelter operators were eligible for up to $3000 in support for their operations under this grant program last year. The various recipients included 34 different wildlife shelters who continue to care for thousands of different native animals across Victoria, like kangaroos, koalas, wombats and possums. Since 2015 our Labor government has invested over $5.4 million into wildlife rehabilitators and carers, and we have embarked on the largest investment in Victoria’s history towards biodiversity and the environment. Our investments, which totalled over $582 million over the last eight years, are helping us push towards our aim of reversing the decline and loss of biodiversity in this state under the framework of the Biodiversity 2037 plan. That includes $3.5 million towards the Nature Fund, which is an addition to the existing $10 million this government has allocated to the fund, which will help preserve and promote the biodiversity of Victoria by addressing threats towards endangered species through developing suitable habitats.

We have $10.6 million invested towards incentive management actions for 22 iconic species across our state. We have also spent $6 million since 2018 towards protecting and restoring natural habitats for native animals to help stop and reverse the decline and invested $1.6 million over the last three years targeting the preservation of marine biodiversity and marine wildlife in Victoria, and $32 million in investments are going into the 36 different large programs focused on managing various invasive species in key locations across Victoria. One of the most important and effective ways we can protect our native wildlife is through the coordinated management of hostile invasive species such as introduced pests and predators, which is exactly what the $32 million is going to do. On top of that there is also BushBank, an investment of nearly $77 million into the redevelopment, restoration and preservation of natural habitats through the planting of plants and trees across Victoria. Of that fund, nearly $31 million will go towards habitat restoration on private land as well.

These are not small figures. They are important projects with concrete funding and concrete goals to turn around the decline of native wildlife and promote the biodiversity of this great state. The government is serious about reversing this downward trend, and I believe our spending commitments in this area reflect that loud and clear. Our government has a proven track record of investing in the future of our diverse wildlife, and these investments follow in the tradition by ensuring our state’s wildlife carers, rehabilitators and shelters have what they need to continue their hard work protecting our native animals. These organisations and workers are essential to not just the delivery of the Biodiversity 2037 targets but also the basic survival of much of Victoria’s native wildlife. They are the people who look after the kangaroos who unfortunately come into collisions with vehicles. They are the ones who take in and look after the koalas after a bushfire or look after countless other animals after a flood ravages their natural habitats. We cannot say for sure how much worse the situation for these animals would be without the work that the carers and shelters do, but we can say for certain that there are hundreds of thousands of native animals that are alive today because of the work they have done. That is why programs like the wildlife rehabilitation program are big, because of all the work they have done. I am proud of what we have done in this state for native wildlife and for wildlife carers, and I look forward to supporting carers, rehabilitators and wildlife shelters for years to come.

Jacinta ERMACORA (Western Victoria) (11:03): I am pleased my parliamentary colleague Ms Purcell has raised this motion. Wildlife rescue is a legitimate emergency service which fulfils the government’s responsibility to protect Victoria’s native animals. This issue is important for two broad reasons in my view: one, our native wildlife forms part of a vital core of our biodiversity and sustainable ecosystems. If one link in an ecosystem becomes out of balance or weakened, then the whole system can be damaged and become unsustainable. Strong diversity of native animals is important to our sustainable future and our prevention of climate change.

A second reason is that how we treat injured animals and those who are vulnerable is a reflection of the values we uphold as a community, and as I have mentioned in this chamber before, there is a relationship between animal abuse and family violence and sexual assault. For example, the use of cruelty to a pet as a threat to maintain control and power over a victim usually instils enormous fear. Clients have told me over the years of the horror and the fear of those circumstances. In Victoria we continue to change the culture of violence towards women and children, and making clear value statements about the needs of vulnerable animals is an important part of that social transition – a transformation that, I might add, has a very long way to go.

Rehabilitating wildlife often constitutes more than a full-time job. At the moment these roles are largely volunteer-led, without compensation. There are many individuals – community members, veterinarians and rescue organisations – involved in animal rescue in our state, and the south-west is no exception. I have recently seen this with great clarity, having visited the Mosswood Wildlife centre at Koroit in my electorate late last year. It was a humbling experience to see firsthand the way Tracey and Peter Wilson have dedicated their lives and their home to koalas, as well as ducks, magpies, wedge-tailed eagles, possums, penguins and even lizards. They are providing the closest thing the south-west has, in a way, to a dedicated wildlife hospital. I felt both moved and grateful for, and also somewhat overwhelmed by, the enormity of the task they are taking on – literally running on small grants and donations and investing their own time and livelihoods into running the centre. They have some dedicated volunteers helping to share the burden, including a wonderful vet who performs surgeries night and day on a pro bono basis.

As Ms Purcell points out in her motion, surgical materials and medicines are a significant cost when running a shelter. It is certainly something that was raised with me at Mosswood. It seems logical to investigate a reimbursement program for commonly used but self-funded medicines, particularly when in Victoria sick, injured or orphaned wildlife can only be rehabilitated by a wildlife shelter, operator or foster carer who is authorised under section 28A of the Wildlife Act 1975. This is important, as wildlife rescue and rehabilitation requires a range of skills. They include safely capturing and handling distressed wildlife, performing first aid, surgery and sometimes euthanasia as well as providing appropriate food and safe and comfortable enclosures, all with the ultimate goal of successfully releasing animals, once recovered, back into their native setting where they belong.

The increasing need for rescues across the state due to factors such as more bushfires and more vehicles is also putting pressure on those who volunteer to rescue native animals, so assessing the feasibility of trialling paid full-time positions for wildlife rescuers in regional areas makes sense. I would like to know that the Allan Labor government understands the values and community concerns about the impact of bushfires on wildlife in Victoria. The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) has established a wildlife field assessment team to locate and evacuate wildlife in fire-affected areas. The team also engages with affected communities and supports accredited wildlife rehabilitators in tending to injured animals.

This component of the emergency response is saving lives. During the Pomonal fires only a few weeks ago emergency relief centres in Ararat and Stawell had dedicated accommodation for pets and companion animals. We know only too well that facilitating the rescue of animals during fire emergencies saves lives. In fact during the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 in Nullawarre my grandparents’ lifelong neighbour delayed his escape from the fire front to open a gate so his stock could escape. That decision, that care for his animals, cost him his life.

We now have additional tools available to respond to animals during emergencies. The Wildlife Emergency app allows users to report wildlife impacted by bushfires and other emergencies to DEECA. The report collects basic information and photographs and, if appropriate, confirms a location. Speaking of apps, this takes me back to the learnings at Mosswood. They have produced an app to track the movements of koalas in the Koroit and Warrnambool areas. It will encourage councils to be informed about where to plant more trees, including more nutritious, koala-friendly eucalyptus trees. As Tracey Wilson told the Standard at the app launch on 16 October last year, we need to have evidence of koalas’ existence and movement in our towns and cities to allow us to influence the relevant organisations in the creation of wildlife corridors. I was intrigued to learn from Tracey of the different varieties of eucalyptus and that some species of koala prefer different species of eucalyptus – in fact some only eat one species of eucalyptus.

The idea of helping the migration of wildlife as we green our environment is of course not new, and the Habitat 141 project, which basically is a vertical area heading up the South Australia–Victoria border, provides a beautiful vertical north–south wildlife corridor for animals to traverse. There is an unofficial corridor that koalas have themselves created between Tower Hill and Framlingham Forest, and they certainly pop in to my family’s farm at Winslow on their way across. They are a noisy bunch as they sit in the trees that my parents and I, and my children as well, planted decades ago.

I am pleased to say that I am working with the minister’s office to deliver enhanced wildlife services in Western Victoria. I support this motion not just because this is the right thing to do but also, as is included in the motion, because Ms Purcell has proposed to investigate a reimbursement program. To investigate is to look into the logical evidence base that might support that and also the costs that it might incur. It also proposes to assess the feasibility of paid positions so that there can be a reliable response to animal emergencies and to facilitate some consultation as well. I would have to say that that approach to investigate, to assess feasibility and to do consultation is a huge improvement, a huge level and step so much better than the thought bubble that we have had to tolerate in this chamber from the Greens around cost of living and the Essential Services Commission. I thank you for your initiative today and fully support this motion.

Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (11:12): I rise to speak on the motion moved by Ms Purcell as well. I will not speak for too long, but I do want to make a few quick points. The rescue and the saving of animals is important, and no-one denies that, but I think the main point that we are trying to make is about the professionalisation of this service, which suggests that it is not professional already. There is one point in here, point (b) of part (1) of the motion, that asserts that rehabilitating wildlife often constitutes more than a full-time job. I just think that is an assertion that really does not have any sound basis. To make that assertion is to try to suggest that it cannot be handled, and there is clearly work being done in that space at the moment. But an assertion like that I do not think is probably based on a full set of facts.

A member: What assertion?

Joe McCRACKEN: In point (b).

The other point that I would make about this is that this motion points at a very narrow set of volunteers that do work. If you want to treat volunteers in a way that reimburses them and pays them and if you want to investigate paying them, I would also point to the fact that there are a number of other volunteers across the state that are in the same situation that do not get paid. I think of the fires that impacted parts of my electorate recently in Western Victoria. There are CFA volunteers and SES volunteers that for a long period of time have operated in emergency situations and have not been reimbursed or paid at all. They are not paid; that is why they are volunteers. But there are also other volunteers that provide services to the community, such as driver safety and Clean Up Australia. They are not paid either. So if we are going to pick a narrow set of volunteers to investigate, maybe we should think about how we think about volunteers and how they are treated and the broader picture – what is the point of volunteering if you are not freely giving your time and you want to be paid for it?

I just think that is something to really think about and be careful of. I do hope that when you call for an investigation it really does look at the costs as well, because I note that costs have not really been spoken about here in terms of a reimbursement program or what it might cost to have a trial to pay full-time employees to do this sort of work. I think that if there is to be some rigour around that, that would be quite helpful to understand what actually is intended here and on what scale that might be as well. The professionalisation of this is probably not something that I support, and I do not think we should be supporting this motion.

Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (11:15): I also rise to make a contribution on this motion in regard to wildlife carers, and I note that I too have a passion for all things wildlife. In fact I have in the boot of my car a shopping bag full of blankets and sheets in case I –

Georgie Purcell: A rescue kit.

Sonja TERPSTRA: A rescue kit? I maybe would not elevate it to that high level, but it is certainly a care kit. If I do need to attend to an animal that is in distress, I can do that. I know people here will not like me talking about this example, but I am going to give it anyway. One time I was driving from my house down towards Rosanna Road, which is a major road near where I live in Heidelberg. Sadly, a fox had been hit, and it was a big fox. In fact it was such a big fox I thought it was a dog, so it was huge. The issue is on Rosanna Road there are a lot of trucks, and that would have very quickly ended up being a hamburger kind of situation. Nobody wants to see that. That is distressing. In fact I thought the animal was still alive. It did have some blood running from its nose. Anyway I pulled over, got out my rescue kit from the back, wrapped it in sheets and picked it up. I thought, ‘Well, it may come to and bite me.’ Nevertheless I then took it to the vet. Sadly, it probably had recently passed away or passed away in the back of my car.

I guess the point of that and why it relates to wildlife and animal care is that I also believe that no matter what animal, living thing, whatever, it deserves a dignified death. It does not deserve to be left on a road to be run over, not to mention the fact that having a large animal like that on the road may actually cause damage to vehicles and the like. I try and look for the humanity in things. I know some people may not think that is the thing for politicians to do, but I think everything deserves a dignified death. Anyway, as I said, I did take it to a vet, which was an emergency vet, one that is in my electorate as well, and it is a really good vet. They are open at all sorts of weird hours to tend to all sorts of animals: feathered, furred and the like.

I understand that the life of a wildlife rescuer is also one that involves very odd and weird hours. You can be called upon at any time to provide assistance to wildlife. It could be in the early hours of the morning when someone is calling to say ‘Hey, I found an animal on the side of the road’ or ‘There’s a dead animal that’s got babies in its pouch’ or whatever, whether they are joeys or wombats; it could be anything. It is definitely a labour of love, and I think that people who go into this role are very caring and absolutely dedicated to providing that care for our wildlife. As I said, wildlife rescue and rehabilitation are rewarding but can be physically and emotionally demanding. As I just talked about, it does require a range of skills, including safely capturing and handling distressed wildlife, administering first aid and in exceptional circumstances performing euthanasia and also providing appropriate food and enclosures.

I am fortunate as well to have the Yarra River that goes through my electorate, and of course we do have a large number of kangaroos that frequent along the Yarra. I know that in Heidelberg as a suburb, whilst parts of it run along the Yarra, oftentimes I have seen kangaroos actually make it across Rosanna Road and make it into shopping precincts, which is always very concerning, and some of these kangaroos are actually quite large. Obviously people who live along the Yarra and live in parts of my electorate are alive to the fact that whilst we are very fortunate to be surrounded by beautiful surroundings – parklands, bushlands and the Yarra – and because it is healthy, we have a range of wildlife, kangaroos and the like but also birdlife. Unfortunately, when that wildlife meets with houses, cars, roads and the like, it can be very confronting and then you have animals who get injured.

In Victoria sick, injured or orphaned wildlife can only be rehabilitated by a wildlife shelter operator or foster carer who is authorised under section 28A of the Wildlife Act 1975. Wildlife shelter operators and foster carers are collectively known as wildlife rehabilitators. These rehabilitators are authorised to acquire, receive, possess, destroy, euthanise and dispose of wildlife. Their dedication and commitment to Victoria’s native wildlife is highly valued by our government and the community. I guess no greater example of that was provided than during the recent bushfires when we saw so many koalas injured and distressed as a consequence of those fires and the amazing lengths that people went to to rescue them, to take them out of harm’s way when fires were coming through, and to then take them to places where they could be cared for and rehabilitated.

Victoria’s wildlife and environment volunteers and volunteer groups have enriched our natural environment and way of life beyond measure, and we have a strong history of environmental volunteering in terms of caring for our wildlife. It is a good thing. I note that during 2017 we released our Biodiversity 2037 plan, which is our ambitious 20-year plan to halt the decline in our biodiversity and improve outcomes for our precious threatened species. In fact since we came to government in 2014 we have invested over $582 million into biodiversity, so this is the largest investment in environment and biodiversity by a Victorian government ever. That is something we should be incredibly proud of.

There is a lot of work to do, and I know our friends on the crossbench like to talk about the climate emergency, but people do forget that part of that is biodiversity and our biodiversity is also an important, critical factor in what our climate is telling us. Often what we heard during the ecosystem decline inquiry, which I chaired last year, was that habitat destruction can and does impact our wildlife. Also the imbalance perhaps between introduced species and native species can mean that there can be an overpopulation of some pest species. I note today that we have Pumbah the dingo attending Parliament. I look forward to meeting Pumbah. Pumbah was going to come in during the ecosystem decline inquiry but did not quite make it in for a variety of reasons. Nevertheless dingoes are an apex predator, and they certainly perform an important function in rectifying any imbalances, particularly with pest species. They perform an important role.

I only have a few minutes left on the clock, so I might just talk about the important role that the Allan Labor government has played and will continue to play in providing support to biodiversity and our native wildlife. As I said, since we came to government in 2014 we have invested over $582 million into biodiversity. That is the largest investment by any Victorian government in its history. Over $22 million was committed to biodiversity and the natural environment in the 2023–24 state budget, and this included $2.1 million to continue our protecting our faunal emblems program. I know we have made some significant gains and improvements in protecting our native fauna and flora. There was over $7.4 million to protect our parks, pets and wildlife, including the creation of a wildlife hospital in south-western Victoria, which is critically important; support for the Wildlife Emergency Support Network; continuation and expansion of Zoos Victoria’s wildlife outreach program; support for Wildlife Victoria to run the wildlife hotline; over $2 million to make our coastlines and coastal ecosystems more resilient in the future; and budget outcomes related to biodiversity in addition to over $60 million in ongoing funding for the 2023–24 financial year. We also launched online the Victorian Wildlife Rehabilitation Guidelines. That is a long-running project, with work commencing back in 2010 in partnership with the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and Zoos Victoria.

There is lots more that I could say on this topic, and I know other speakers will have more to say as well. But I just want to give a shout-out to our wildlife carers, who dedicate their precious time towards caring for our injured wildlife. They really do perform an important function, and I want to thank them for their dedication and commitment to that cause. It is a labour of love and it is a very challenging role, but our government does support wildlife carers in their pursuit of making sure that our wildlife can be cared for when they are unfortunately injured and then of course can be rehabilitated with the purpose of ensuring they can return to the wild and be rehabilitated where that is in fact possible.

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (11:25): I very much appreciate an opportunity to get up before the chamber and speak on this motion before us from our colleague Ms Purcell. I want to reflect on some of the contributions of my colleagues and thank them so very much for sharing their lived experience with animal rescuers as well as family experiences and folks that they know and they care about. Can I take a moment to say that this is a very, very detailed motion, and I certainly appreciate all the efforts that have gone into it. I note that the government is indeed supporting it today. There is so much in it that when I was reflecting I thought ‘Where do I start?’ because the truth is that some of our wildlife rescuers are such incredible folk in our community who do it so selflessly. But some of the points that were raised in this I think were particularly pertinent, particularly with respect to training and education about the workplace health and safety of these volunteers, areas around having appropriate equipment to do their job but also medications required to do it safely. So thank you for being so very detailed in this motion, Ms Purcell.

I also want to note that in Victoria sick, injured or in fact orphaned wildlife can only be rehabilitated by a wildlife shelter operator or foster carer, and I think that is really an important distinction to make. These guys are collectively known as wildlife rehabilitators. Amongst all the good that they do, it also includes possessing, receiving, acquiring and indeed, sadly, sometimes euthanising our wildlife for the purposes of their care, treatment or rehabilitation. Sometimes you get the good moment to release them back into the wild, which I am sure makes the very many hours that our rescuers spend worth it. Can I also just say that the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) do also work to respond to wildlife needs during emergencies, including fire and other declared emergencies.

I know that so many have spoken with such interest around wildlife rescuers on land, so I thought perhaps I could speak about wildlife rescuers in our sea country, because we know that it is a little bit more complex and it is a little bit more challenging when it comes our sea life and the needs for wildlife rescue there. I particularly want to take a moment to recognise the work that traditional owners play in recognising flora and fauna on country but also in protecting our wildlife, particularly native wildlife. The ones that come to mind for me are turtles. Even though the motion does not make a particularly pointed mention of turtles, it is one that I have a personal connection to. Some folks might know that turtles are an especially sacred totem to many of our traditional owners, and when they do come ashore and need assistance, there is not only a response that happens from first responders that are traditional owners because the turtle needs help but also a deep and profound cultural obligation to do so, especially for those of us who enjoy the turtle as our totem.

I have been a part of some turtle rescues in more northern waters than these, and I remember with great affection the wildlife rescuers that were around us. Of course it is perhaps worth mentioning the work of Victorian wildlife rescuers rather than the good folks up north, but I will say that when we have these emergencies, which seem to happen all too frequently in our state, there are provisions under the Victorian Emergency Animal Welfare Plan, which is led by DEECA, to respond in emergency planning response and recovery phases to address concerns for animal welfare in an emergency. I am really happy to see that there is a definition of the roles and responsibilities of agencies and organisations and their operational interactions with other folks in the emergency response. These include contributing to human safety and community resilience through planning and the management of animals in emergencies, and ensuring animals are better considered and protected from suffering during and immediately following emergencies.

What I recently discovered – so thank you for bringing this motion before us – is that there is actually a wildlife emergency app that allows folks to indeed report wildlife impacted by bushfires and other emergencies to DEECA. It collects some basic information but also, if it is appropriate, you can include the addition of photographs and confirm the location. Sometimes, as we know through recent emergency weather events, the internet is not able to be connected to via these devices, but I will tell you that you can save that response – so if you are out somewhere and you have this app and you want to take some photos and respond with the location et cetera, when you do get into a cell-service area you can then in fact submit that data using the internet connection. So I would just say to folks that do spend a lot of time out and about in places that may mean that they interact with wildlife in emergency situations – or even not in emergencies – that there is the emergency app that can be downloaded from an app store. So there you go; I feel like I am an advert for apps and emergency response technology at the moment. It does not always work, but it seems to me that the folks behind this one have worked out how to make a response as easy as possible.

I also just think that there is a little bit more that we could be doing, and so I thank Ms Purcell for bringing this motion before us. Of course I am reflecting back on 2019–20 and the fires and what we saw with some really, really difficult images on our screens. What that did show was certainly a need for much stronger support and coordination within our wildlife emergency response. That is why the Wildlife Emergency Support Network was created following those fires – to train and accredit veterinarian teams and these wildlife rehabilitators to assist the department to undertake wildlife welfare activities on really large scale fires. So thank you to the folks who really pushed for that, because I am sure in the events that have happened since that, it was a very central part of our agency response.

I would say that the Allan Labor government has continued to invest in this Wildlife Emergency Support Network and deploys its members alongside of DEECA, who of course have skills that can be effectively utilised to assist wildlife and aid their recovery in these troubled times. It is also worth noting that sometimes the rehabilitation of these animals requires quite a medical response, including the allocation of prescriptions and medications, sometimes even chemicals. I am thinking particularly of fires. The use and prescription of these medicines and chemicals is in fact a very tightly controlled and regulated environment. This means that there is in fact a national system that has come about to be there to enforce this. Thank you for this motion, which I think will raise some questions about how we can make that system more effective, with a considered overtone of the protection of public health and safety. Of course the veterinarians that prescribe medications for wildlife rehabilitation must do so following various acts of our Parliament.

I would love to tell a story, but I do not have one that immediately comes to mind except for a big, old turtle that I found up on the central coast. It will make me cry, and I do not want to go there, so I will leave my comments there.

Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (11:36): It is a pleasure to stand and speak to this motion on wildlife rescue reform and to follow on from Ms Watt and many of her comments. I am fortunate to represent the region of Eastern Victoria, with its spectacular natural beauty and spectacular natural places, and within those is natural wildlife. Whether it is the Mornington Peninsula; Phillip Island, famously known for its little penguins; South Gippsland; the Strzelecki Ranges; Wilsons Promontory; the Dandenongs; West and Central Gippsland, going up into the mountains; or East Gippsland, from the lakes going all the way up to the New South Wales border with some incredible remote wilderness into the mountains, there is such an incredible abundance of wildlife but also a diversity of wildlife across all those regions that are all spectacular. It is why so many people choose to live across the region and its different areas, because of that natural environment and the wildlife that lives within that spectacular natural environment.

People living in those regions will come across wildlife that is in trouble for different reasons. Obviously we see seasonal changes, particularly in drought, when animals that perhaps otherwise would be staying within a particular area are on the move looking for food or water. Otherwise we have situations like we saw particularly in 2019–20 when we had natural disasters where mass migration of wildlife occurred to escape either fires or floods. We also have wind events, as we have seen recently. It is an incredible thing that we have volunteer networks that are prepared to come together and support our wildlife in the times that they need help most.

I also want to take the opportunity to acknowledge groups such as our Landcare groups and our farmers that are working to not only protect habitat but enable more habitat with weed management and making sure that no matter what animal it is, they have that habitat to live in. We think so much of birds, and the plantations that farmers are putting in that assist their livestock and assist their farms in general are also wonderful places, particularly for small birds. We know that they need that condensed bush space so they can get in and breed and be safe from larger birds. As Ms Watt or Ms Terpstra said about introduced species, they will often give some of our wonderful native birdlife a pretty hard time.

I want to acknowledge the work that our farmers and our residents do in our local communities and regional towns. I was out with Minister Dimopoulos in Mirboo North and Arawata just a few days before the storm event came through, looking at the work farmers are doing to put in multi-variety pastures with up to 12 different seeds. These types particularly do not require herbicides or pesticides, and we are seeing lots of animal life within that, which is encouraging birds and other things. Then as I said before, the plantations become corridors, and Ms Ermacora spoke about one coming off Tower Hill in her region. Once those corridors are in place, you are enabling animal movement to get between the bigger areas that they can live in. You are enabling that movement in times of emergency, but you are also enabling that movement for breeding, crossing and ensuring that there are as many species of animals in a place as possible, whether that is to enable that biodiversity or whether those animals are working well off each other being in a similar area.

I just wanted to pick up specifically on the wildlife rescuers themselves. Rescue and rehabilitation are not only very rewarding for our volunteers but critically important for our injured wildlife. But it can be physically and emotionally demanding, and it does require a range of skills. To safely capture and handle distressed wildlife is something that does require a lot of skill, because particularly with some of our bigger wildlife it could put Good Samaritans trying to do the right thing and help out in danger’s way and harm’s way. There is also administering first aid and, where necessary, euthanasia, because we do not want animals being in intense pain and discomfort when there is no other option, and of course providing food and enclosures. We need to do this in a way that does not stress animals and that maintains their natural behaviours. I know from growing up on a farm that if you are supporting lambs you have just got to be mindful of the way you are handling them so that the ewes will take the lambs back as their own and not reject them, so across all wildlife we have got to be mindful to do the same thing.

In Victoria sick, injured or orphaned wildlife can only be rehabilitated by a wildlife shelter operator or a foster carer who is authorised under section 28A of the Wildlife Act 1975. Wildlife shelter operators and foster carers are collectively known as wildlife rehabilitators, and wildlife rehabilitators are authorised to acquire, receive, possess, euthanise and dispose of wildlife for the purposes of the care, treatment and rehabilitation of sick, injured or orphaned wildlife for release back to the wild. Their dedication and commitment to Victoria’s native wildlife are highly valued by this side and of course our community, because as I said before, it is an incredible thing that they do. Not only does it take up a lot of their time and goodwill but also it can put them in harm’s way. Victoria’s wildlife and environment volunteers and volunteer groups have enriched our natural environment. It is very hard to measure the impact of their work. It is phenomenal.

Victoria has a strong history of environmental volunteering, with volunteers contributing enormously to improving our environment, our local communities and our economy. I spoke before about Landcare and the incredible the work they do, but there are so many other groups. This government has worked with all environmental volunteers, volunteer groups, the community and government agencies to explore how to maintain, support and grow the volunteering sector. We will continue to listen and to support those groups in every which way we can, recognising these challenges in supporting the work that volunteers are doing and enhancing environmental volunteering through the coordination of those volunteers’ work. Supporting, improving and expanding the environmental volunteering sector in Victoria will contribute directly to the vision and goals of Biodiversity 2037. In 2017 we released Biodiversity 2037, our ambitious 20-year plan to halt the decline of our biodiversity and improve outcomes for our precious threatened species.

Since we came to government in 2014 we have invested over $582 million in biodiversity, which I think is critically important. A number of my colleagues have raised the bigger challenge of climate change. We know that the impacts of climate change are going to affect our wildlife as a different climate is moving in on our animals. I think this investment is absolutely critical to ensure that when we talk about that biodiversity holistically, the holistic collection of our wildlife has the best opportunity to thrive that is possible. This is the largest investment in biodiversity by a Victorian government ever. I would just like to thank you for the opportunity to speak on this motion.

Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (11:46): It is a pleasure to sum up on this debate. I want to thank all of the members for their contributions today and the clear love and passion for our wildlife. Just during the debate actually I had a number of wildlife rescuers and carers texting me, saying how exciting it is to hear this debate going on. One of my wonderful constituents, Sam Brand, actually sent me a message coming back from a barbed wire rescue with a bat. Sam is also a wonderful wombat carer, who I must note specifically texted me after Mr Galea’s contribution to say that Mr Galea gives ‘wombat daddy vibes’ and ‘All MPs are welcome to come out to the shelter.’ I would really encourage not only Mr Galea but all of my colleagues.

Members interjecting.

Georgie PURCELL: I must note I think it is on the physical appearance, not anything else.

Bev McArthur: What? He is far more handsome than a wombat.

Georgie PURCELL: No, wombats are beautiful. It is a compliment, Mr Galea. I need to take up the Libs’ opposition to some points to this; I need to pick up Mr McCracken’s comments. To anyone opposing this idea of paying our wildlife rescue workforce or considering professionalising them, this motion just calls for investigating the feasibility of that, and it is something that the wildlife community has been asking for for some time. I think the very least we can do is just listen to them on that, because they have been unheard and unsupported for so long.

Mr McCracken also said that there are other volunteers who are not supported. I really just do not think that this is an argument to not support our wildlife community. We should be supporting all of the volunteers in this state. In the wildlife space they are not the only ones that are having volunteers drop off. We see it across the board in all volunteer workforces. This could be a really great precedent to set to further support the volunteers in our state. Because the reality is that not only are the wildlife rescuers leaving the community because they are burning out and cannot financially support their own work anymore but we are also not gaining wildlife rescuers and carers. People are not rushing to do this work, because they know how hard it is and how all-consuming it is. I think a very important distinction between this volunteer workforce and other volunteer workforces is the fact that this work never stops. If they are not rescuing an animal on a roadside, they are giving one a bottle at home and they are getting up every 2 hours to check on them. Particularly in those early stages, kangaroo carers would know it is all through the night. They are on night shift and they are on day shift ensuring that those animals survive. The very least we can do is give them the support they need in order for them to continue to do it.

Obviously the government and a number of the crossbench parties have said that they will support this motion today, and I am very, very grateful for that. I am looking forward to hopefully, if this motion is successful, working with the minister very quickly. We need to do this work quickly. We cannot delay this work. We need to begin consultation and start listening to this community, who have been begging the government and other politicians to hear about their plight – not only their plight but most importantly the plight of our native animals that we are running the risk of losing in this state. We need to do this work before it is too late. We cannot come back from it, because as Ms Copsey said, we are in an extinction crisis. Some of the animals that we love and know and see regularly are under threat, and then there are many, many more who are suffering and in long-term decline. On that note, I commend the motion to the house once again, and I look forward to all of your support today.

Council divided on motion:

Ayes (22): Ryan Batchelor, John Berger, Lizzie Blandthorn, Katherine Copsey, Enver Erdogan, Jacinta Ermacora, David Ettershank, Michael Galea, Shaun Leane, Sarah Mansfield, Tom McIntosh, Rachel Payne, Aiv Puglielli, Georgie Purcell, Samantha Ratnam, Harriet Shing, Ingrid Stitt, Jaclyn Symes, Lee Tarlamis, Sonja Terpstra, Gayle Tierney, Sheena Watt

Noes (13): Melina Bath, Gaelle Broad, Georgie Crozier, David Davis, Renee Heath, Ann-Marie Hermans, Wendy Lovell, Trung Luu, Bev McArthur, Joe McCracken, Nick McGowan, Evan Mulholland, Richard Welch

Motion agreed to.

Business interrupted pursuant sessional orders.