Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Corella control

Petition

Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (17:29): I rise to speak on the petition titled ‘Resolve corella issue in Bridgewater’, tabled by Mrs Broad on 27 August. I really did not think that I would have to rise to speak on the definition of a plague, but apparently some in this chamber could benefit from it. The plague is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that can be life threatening. What the plague is not is a sweet white-and-pink bird that is native to our state. I was surprised to learn from Mrs Broad that we have mutant corellas pulling apart houses in this state. The logistics of that I do not even know how one could even form and say with a straight face. Instead of applauding the government’s decision to not perform lethal control, for once, on our wildlife, this member of Parliament has criticised a humane approach, something that very, very rarely happens for our wildlife. It is not difficult to see through this and understand that what this petition wants is to secure the go-ahead for an open-fire attack on corellas. We must recognise our part in corella populations. We have created the perfect conditions for them, with food and rubbish littering the streets and parks. Corellas, being a super-intelligent species, are simply responding to this abundance. The words that we choose have such a devastating impact on the way we view a species. If enough people say they do not belong here, it is soon forgotten that corellas are in fact a native and protected species here in Australia.

I do, however, hear the calls of the local community wanting support from the government on the corella population. Fortunately, the answer is already willing and able to be deployed. Cherrp is an innovative technology developed by scientists and engineers with the purpose of overcoming challenges in the coexistence of birds and humans. It has a 95 per cent success rate across farms and commercial and public areas. Cherrp works by designing communication in the language of corellas to communicate that the area is unsafe and uninhabitable. A new location is identified to relocate the corellas, and a device is then set up to draw the corellas to the new location using sounds in their own language. The communication is automatically modified through real-time data to ensure long-term effectiveness and the ability to respond to varying responses by the birds. Eventually the devices are removed and the birds remain in their chosen location. This has been effectively deployed in other states around Australia with a huge success rate.

Culling, however, has been proven to be an ineffective strategy for birds. It cannot and will not provide a long-term solution, nor can traditional solutions such as blast noises, netting and laser deterrents work in long-term spurts, as corellas are habitual. Specifically, the intelligence of corellas means that they can easily adapt and become neutral to the deterrents. Cherrp actually met with the minister for industry and innovation and the Minister for Environment, as well as my office, to offer their services. I would encourage the local community of Bridgewater to advocate to the government to employ Cherrp so that they can have a lasting and humane solution – something that everyone wants.