Attention:
Dr Maxine Cooper, Environment Commissioner
Mr Jon Stanhope, Chief Minister
Dear Mr Stanhope and Dr Cooper,
Further to my email to you yesterday (Monday 10 March 2008) ...
Up front: Mr Stanhope I understand that it is your publicly declared position
that the Iraq invasion involved undue haste and zeal from those pushing
for it, and was based on poor and incomplete analysis and research. Given
that we're clearly at an "incomplete analysis and research"
stage here with the Belconnen Navy station situation, please turn the
"undue haste and zeal" button right off, indefinitely!
I email here in relation to a question I phoned through to your office
last Friday (7 March 2008) Dr Cooper in relation to the Belconnen Navy
station situation with the kangaroos. The question was:
"how exhaustively have you searched for possible relocation sites
for the 600 odd kangaroos?"
Pamela Mathie kindly phoned me today to respond to my question to your
office Dr Cooper and said she understood that the issue of possible kangaroo
relocation sites would have been considered by the expert group. Pamela
also confirmed that your support for the kangaroo cull Dr Cooper was largely
based on the expert group report dated 19 Feb 08 in Attachment G as at
http://www.envcomm.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/95818/BTNS_Attachments.pdf.
I see that the expert group report mentions location sites briefly and
negatively, as follows (see page 31 of 42 of the attachment file here),
but does not confirm that the expert group ever actually considered any
specific relocation sites:
In addition to the animal welfare concerns are issues associated with
locating a suitable release site. There is an abundance of eastern grey
kangaroos in the ACT and NSW. A large scale move of most or all of the
kangaroos at the BNTS would not only place pressure on the population
being translocated but would also impact the area or areas to which they
are introduced, affecting food supply and social interactions in both
existing and introduced populations. Large numbers of kangaroos could
be expected to die as a consequence.
The claim quoted above is highly speculative and not supported by any
hard evidence cited in the expert group report. Accordingly, and in any
event, the kangaroo cull could not possibly be justified until an exhaustive
or at least comprehensive search is carried out for possible kangaroo
relocation sites in which the following facts are identified and transparently
made public:
(1) a full list of alternative sites that you Dr Cooper and/or the expert
group have considered for the possible relocation of Belconnen kangaroos,
along with the number of kangaroos each site could viably accommodate
and general assessments of the viability of such sites;
(2) a list of all possible kangaroo relocation sites within the bounds
of the Australian mainland, or at least NSW, along with the number of
kangaroos each site could viably accommodate;
(3) a list of possible kangaroo relocation sites in rank order according
to closeness to Belconnen, along with the number of kangaroos each site
could viably accommodate;
(4) a list of possible kangaroo relocation sites in rank order according
to the numbers of kangaroos that could viably be moved to the sites; and
(5) a list of possible kangaroo relocation sites in rank order according
to general relocation suitability in the eyes of your expert group, taking
into account the rank orderings established in (3) and (4) above here.
Notwithstanding that the expert group report and your report Dr Cooper
at http://www.envcomm.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/95812/BTNS_report.pdf
do not make it clear whether you or the expert group made any serious
effort to identify and assess specific relocation sites, your report Dr
Cooper and the expert group report clearly do imply that even the alternative
locations best capable of absorbing additional kangaroos would not be
capable of accepting more than the 60 kangaroos who might be spared from
death because they are the subject of authorised scientific research.
Please provide me and the general public, via your website Dr Cooper,
facts (1) to (5) as above so that we can properly examine the costs and
benefits and general viability of the kangaroo relocation option. Please
ensure that no kangaroo is killed whilst the highly significant facts
called for here and other pertinent facts remain seriously in doubt.
I've read the views of others who I believe have given this issue more
thought than I have, including with the expert group who you have sought
advice on Dr Cooper, and hence recommend that you adopt a plan along the
lines of the following as a middle ground solution to the Belconnen Navy
station problem:
(A) immediately declare a moratorium on kangaroo culling until the serious
shortcomings of the expert group report (Attachment G at http://www.envcomm.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/95818/BTNS_Attachments.pdf)
are fully resolved;
(B) relocate the 60 or so kangaroos subject to ongoing research as envisaged
in the expert group report;
(C) undertake a sterilisation program on the Belconnen kangaroos not translocated
as in (B); and
(D) monitor the Belconnen grasslands and generally assess the effectiveness
of measures (B) and (C) on an ongoing basis following the completion of
measures (B) and (C).
Please provide the facts sought earlier in this email in relation to possible
relocation sites for the Belconnen kangaroos, and please follow a plan
along the lines of that recommended directly above here.
Regards,
Mark Drummond
BSc(hons) DipEd BA BE(hons) MBA MPubPolMgmt PhD
5 Loddon Street
KALEEN ACT 2617
phone 02 6255 0772
email: markld@ozemail.com.au
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