‘Deeply unserious’: funding boost for bird flu slammed
Andrew Stafford and Robyn Wuth |
A $20 million boost for wildlife protection in response to the bird flu outbreak has been slammed as “deeply unserious” by a leading conservation group.
The federal government on Thursday announced a total funding increase of $145 million – shared equally by the Commonwealth, states and territories – bringing the total investment to more than $270 million.
However, of the $145 million increase, $125 million would be directed towards boosting biosecurity, with the remaining $20 million directed to supporting threatened native wildlife.
The government says the money will be used for supporting emergency response and citizen science work, with the commonwealth seeking matching contributions from states and territories.
However, the Invasive Species Council said it was shocked by the figure, after previously positive discussions with the government.
The council’s Jack Gough said it is only slightly more than the $17 million the government had cut from the Saving Native Species program, before bird flu’s arrival on Australian shores in June.
He compared it to the government’s $2.5 billion bailout for the Tomago aluminium smelter.
“There was a strong acknowledgement at departmental ministerial level and among MPs about what was required, and what’s been delivered is a deeply unserious response to that,” he told AAP.
Mr Gough said $20 million was “a drop in the ocean”, with at least 10 times that figure needed to treat the unfolding disaster.
He said the $125 million would go towards PPE and clean-ups, with a comparatively paltry amount set aside to invest in measures that would help wildlife rebound from the virus.
“The government’s own risk assessment has said that we will see potentially catastrophic declines of almost one in five of Australia’s mammals and birds,” Mr Gough said.
He said more investment was needed in controlling invasive species including cats, foxes, feral pigs and weeds, protecting native habitat corridors and other measures.
“We’ve got a continental scale wildlife disaster about to occur,” Mr Gough said.
“We’ve been saying that a minimum $200 million spend over the next two years is required.
“They’ve put in $20 million over the next year … this is just reversing the cuts that were made in the recent federal budget.”
Environment minister Murray Watt has been contacted for comment.
AAP