Tuesday, 16 June 2026

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (21:43): (2577) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment, and the action that I seek is for him to remind Zoos Victoria of their key obligation to fight wildlife extinction. My relationship with Zoos Victoria is quite complex. I do not agree with the confining of exotic animals for entertainment purposes, but they do do some genuinely meaningful conservation work in our state. That is why I was really concerned to hear last week that up to 100 jobs across the four zoos sites were on the chopping block as part of a proposed cost-cutting exercise. Zoos Victoria publicly states that it is fighting extinction and conserving wildlife for future generations. That is what they maintain their social licence under. That is all well and good to say publicly, but if any jobs within the wildlife or conservation teams are at risk, then Zoos Victoria are in direct conflict of the narrative they use to maintain that social licence. Publicly Zoos Victoria have said there would be no cuts to frontline services or ongoing conservation or wildlife rescue roles, but they have also refused to directly confirm that conservation programs, including ones that seek to build back the population of threatened species or emergency response programs, will be spared from these cuts.

One thing that I am particularly concerned about is the future of the marine response unit, which last year alone helped in 977 cases across our state. My own office has seen firsthand just how incredible and integral the marine response unit is, responding to calls that involve seals, turtles, seabirds and other marine wildlife. They fill a critical gap that wildlife volunteers cannot usually respond to and also help alleviate the burden on that volunteer network as well. These are also the people who get the call-out when our iconic penguins at Phillip Island or St Kilda Pier find themselves in strife. Of course Sammy the seal, who made strides on social media for popping up in random places all over the Mornington Peninsula, was regularly visited by the marine response unit as well, and just last month they received a very sad call to a dead seal who locals believe was Sammy.

With the very real threat of bird flu hitting our shores, any job losses in this space would be catastrophic. I know this to be true firsthand, with these teams taking the ducks from the duck-shooting season to test them for bird flu when we bring them in from the rescue units. I can only imagine the impact that their absence would have on other volunteer teams, such as the Wildlife Rescue network and Vets for Compassion, who are already run off their feet and struggling to keep up with demand.

While we wait to hear about the intended restructure, my office has reiterated to both Zoos Victoria and the minister himself just how important it is to keep these programs in place, fully funded and adequately staffed, for our native animals. Given Zoos Victoria is a beneficiary of taxpayer funds, I call on the minister to seek an assurance from Zoos Victoria that our state’s wildlife will not be left worse off because of these job cuts.