13 January 2020

Doorstop interview, Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, NSW

Note

Subjects: Bushfire Emergency Wildlife and Habitat Restoration Package

PAT CONAGHAN:

Welcome everybody here to the Koala Hospital at Port Macquarie this morning and thank you for coming along. Firstly, I’d like to welcome here the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley, and also Dr. Sally Box. There’s a very important, very special announcement about the environment, about our wildlife which I’ll ask Minister Ley to give you all the information about this morning. Josh Frydenberg will speak after myself and then Minister Ley and then I’ll ask Dr. Box to just give some information about what is happening.

Firstly, I would like to thank Sue Ashton from the Koala Hospital this morning for taking us on tour and showing us the really important work that they’re doing as a result of these fires. We can’t forget that this is not new for the Port Macquarie Hospital; Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has been here since 1973. They have hundreds of volunteers waiting here. In fact, there are a number of people on the waiting list to be volunteers. They do such great work here, they look after our native animals; the ones recently caught up in the fires, tragically caught up in these fires.

So, we need to recognize that it’s not only the damage to property and life but it’s also the damage to our wildlife and our environment that is so important for us as a Federal Government to recognise this and have a long-term plan for the recovery our wildlife and our environment and our heritage.

On that note, I will ask the Treasurer to give further details.

JOSH FRYDENBERG:

Thanks very much, Pat. It’s a real pleasure to be here with you in your electorate at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital together with the Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, and Dr. Sally Box, the threatened species commissioner. Just a few kilometers from here, the fires have been burning; homes have been lost, lives have been lost. This has been a national tragedy to see these fires burning across many states and, indeed, they are still burning. Our thoughts are with our emergency service personnel, our volunteer firefighters and all those families and communities that have been devastated by these fires.

Our focus, the Morrison Government’s focus, is on response and recovery. Ensuring that those people who need help are getting help. That’s why we’ve established the National Bushfire Recovery Agency under the leadership of Andrew Colvin, the Federal Police Commissioner. That is why we have committed an initial and additional $2 billion on top of disaster recovery payments and allowances and that’s why the Australian Defence Force have had an unprecedented call-out of reservists across many states. Now, 27,000 of them are at work in the bushfire relief effort.

I’m also pleased that $42 million has already gone out to the states to make its way to local governments for their initiatives. Some $40 million has gone to 30,000 people in terms of disaster relief payments and support. As we are standing here today, Chinooks and Hercules and Blackhawk helicopters are ferrying disaster relief and supplies to those who need it as well as our emergency service personnel.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister made a very significant announcement with the Health Minister about $76 million for mental health support. Today we’re making an announcement about $50 million as an initial contribution to protecting our wildlife and restoring the habitat. This has been an ecological disaster; a disaster that is still unfolding. Some 8 million hectares have been burnt and we know that our native flora and fauna have been very badly damaged.

This money will importantly go to saving the lives of our wonderful native flora and fauna and what we’ve seen today from Sue is a number of the koalas who have been badly burnt, just kilometers from here, are now undergoing important recovery and treatment. The love and the affection that is being given by these volunteers and staff here at the koala hospital is something really to be seen. I’ll hand you over now to Sussan Ley.

SUSSAN LEY:

Thank you very much, Treasurer. It’s terrific to be here with you and you have been an Environment Minister so delighted to have your support, not just for the announcement today but for the ongoing funding that restoring our precious and unique environment will need. Pat Conaghan, we got here. Pat has been a fearless advocate for these communities in the lead up to Christmas when you were at the frontline of bushfires and one of the reasons we’re here is to demonstrate, Pat, that we are responding to your communities needs and that we understand that we need to be here for the longer-term when it comes to the mapping, the discovering of the unburnt areas within the burnt fire grounds, and bringing the restoration and recovery, we’ve started that work up here in northern New South Wales already.

Leslie Williams, you as the State Member have been a champion of this region and this zoo. Sue Ashton, has taken us for a tour of the koalas and unsurprisingly, they all have names, and they all have unique identities and they are all individually extraordinary and they all matter, as does every single wildlife that’s been affected by these fires. So, thank you Sue for the work that you’re doing.

Today, as the Treasurer said, this is our initial response for the environment when it comes to the bushfire tragedy and I’ve just stepped away from my own communities in rural New South Wales, 70 kms from my hometown there are fires burning in the upper Murray and I was talking yesterday about the built environment and the rural environment and our farmers. Today, I’m talking about the environment. We, as a Government, will respond across all three fronts as we go forward and manage what is, as Josh has said, an unfolding ecological tragedy.

So $50 million today, and if I can broadly break it up; $25 million for our wildlife carers and hospitals and our zoos that are standing ready to do what they do best, breed insurance populations and get out there in the field and help, and our natural resource management bodies, because one of the biggest threats that wildlife faces post bushfire is feral animals. So, we need to get those areas fenced off, we need to identify habitat and we need to provide food, shelter and water for the animals.

Now, the other $25 million that is part of today’s announcement, and I stress it’s all our initial response, will be managed by Dr. Sally Box, our threatened species commissioner. Because what we do need to do is coordinate our expert advice and so Sally has convened and will chair, along with me, an expert panel that will inform us about what we should do. Because there is so much in the science, the environment, the ecology, the indigenous land management, and farm space that we can learn from. So, we’re bringing those people together, and they’re actually going to give us that advice. So, this is about the Government listening, acting. You will see money coming out the door in days, right where it’s needed, and the ongoing conversations that I’m having with those groups is helping us have the best possible response as a Federal Government.

This is coordination, coordination with volunteers, coordination with state governments and state agencies, and together we will manage this, because this is a huge opportunity for our country to recover our habitat and to recognise the extraordinary value of our wildlife and the iconic Australian bush in which it lives.

So, Sally, I’d love you to talk a little bit about that science response which I’ve mentioned.

SALLY BOX:

Thank you very much, Minister. As the Minister said, she’s asked me to convene an expert panel who will help guide the Government’s response to this bushfire crisis. This expert panel will have a few roles. We’ll be looking at trying to assess the impacts of these fires on our threatened species and on our wildlife and on our plants and animals, mapping to try to understand where the fires have been and which species may have been in their path has already begun. We’ll be looking at those maps and what further information we need to assess those impacts.

We’ve been trying to prioritise the species, the places where we most need to focus our efforts, and then look at the type of actions that might need to be done. That might be about protecting habitat where you’ve got those vulnerable species remaining, it may about controlling pests and weeds, it may be about securing threatened species populations and getting them in to the zoos, and also there’s the planning for that long-term habitat restoration effort.

So, I’m convening this panel in order to include experts from CSIRO, from the universities, from the zoos and from our own indigenous advisory committee. We will have fire ecologists, conservation biologists, expertise in captive breeding. We will have a range of expertise on that panel. That panel will meet very quickly. That panel will meet on Wednesday to start looking at where we most need to guide our efforts.

But, as the Minister and the Treasurer have said, collaboration is key here. We have had a huge outpouring of support from the private sector, from the non-government sector, and of course, from our state and territory governments as well. So, we’ll all need to work together and coordinate to make sure that all of our collective resources are going where they need to go.

JOSH FRYDENBERG:

Any questions?

JOURNALIST:

Treasurer, the koala was obviously endangered prior to these fires. Just how concerned are you of the impact these fires have on already critical populations? Could our mascot be wiped off the face of the earth?

JOSH FRYDENBERG:

Well, it’s iconic, the koala, and we all want to see it thrive and survive, and obviously, there’s been huge damage to not only their habitat, but to their numbers. And Dr. Sally Box may want to speak about the damage to their habitat and to their numbers, but the truth is, we don’t know the full extent of that damage until it’s been mapped and until these fires are over. But there’s no doubt a large number of koalas have lost their lives, many other have been injured, and just here, at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, there are 45 koalas who have been burnt, and they’ve received treatment in the medical facilities, they are now going through a recovery process. They’ve come from Lismore, they’ve come from the Blue Mountains, the Hawksbury, they’ve come from right around this state and beyond and obviously the expertise here, the expertise within our zoos and through other not-for-profit organisations. It’s a real collective effort to restore their habitat and to protect the wildlife. Sally.

SALLY BOX:

Thank you Treasurer. Yes I think the community has really been struck by the images of koalas affected by these fires and it’s been quite heartbreaking. Scientists are estimating that maybe 30 per cent of koala habitat has been lost here in northern New South Wales, we know that habitats recently been lost on Kangaroo Island. So that we know, we know that koalas have really taken a hit, it will be some time before we know exactly what that means for their numbers but obviously koalas will be a big area of focus for us.

JOURNALIST:

How exactly do you plan to control, you know, feral pests and predators? Can you talk us through that approach?

SUSSAN LEY:

Our natural resource management groups are already set up across the country, they’re already doing that work so they can bring together with conservation volunteers, teams on the ground, because the actions that we speak of after mapping habitat and finding those unburnt areas in the bush are protecting against predators. Now might be baiting feral cats, it will certainly be food drops, the right food at the right time for our native species and it will be understanding the behaviour of the threatened species that remain. So, camera traps, satellite mapping, people on the ground, but they are ready to go, not just in our natural resource management groups but also with our conservation volunteers.

JOURNALIST:

Minister Ley could you talk us through the plans to put native animals in zoos and create arks to try and repopulate the areas?

SUSSAN LEY:

Our zoos are incredibly well set up to breed insurance populations and to manage captive breeding. So we’re providing funding to Zoos Victoria, Adelaide Zoos and Taronga Zoo as part of today’s announcement; $1 million to each and they’re already ready. Zoos Victoria is out in the field treating and rescuing and recovering wildlife and if you go to the zoo that’s pretty close to the CBD of Melbourne, you will see the Mount Baw Baw frog, the Regent Honeyeater, the Bilby all that have been in danger that are all breeding carefully and well in captivity ready for a release back into the wild. Now, our zoos are expertly placed and that’s why Sally said they’ll be represented on that panel that designs the intervention and the recovery.

JOURNALIST:

Many groups have already been calling for intervention with helping species going extinct and calling for a Protection Act on a koala. Why now will you be listening to the recommendations from this panel, what makes it different?

SUSSAN LEY:

We’ve got a Threatened Species Scientific Committee that manages the listing of all endangered species. So this is not, you know, a Government decision based on a set of circumstances, this is always done with scientific opinion. However, I have spoken with the Chair of the Committee, Helene Marsh and I have said, given the extraordinary hit as we described it on the koala population it may be necessary to bring forward the assessment that they would be doing in any case to see whether in certain parts of the country, koalas move from where they are which is often vulnerable, up to endangered. So everything that can be done to rescue and recover koala habitat will be done, including some innovative approaches that look at whether you can actually put a koala in an area that it hasn’t come from. So the best science, the best advice will inform our response.

JOURNALIST:

Will this also be looking at the effects of logging?

SUSSAN LEY:

Well, absolutely, because Blue Gum forests in Victoria have removed a fair chunk of the koalas’ natural habitat. So I’m sure that in Victoria’s response to what is effectively a state policy on logging they should consider that.

JOURNALIST:

Just a question for Dr Sally, the 30 per cent in the northern part of New South Wales, have we ever seen figures or loss of life for these populations like this before?

SALLY BOX:

These fires really are unprecedented, I think, in terms of how widespread they’ve been and the intensity of the fire in some places. So I do think we are faced with a very different situation now which is why we have the nature of the response we have.

JOURNALIST:

Treasurer, you’ve called this an ecological disaster. What’s the Morrison Government doing to try and stop future fires of this magnitude popping up? I mean many are calling for an active response on climate change, is that something you are ever going to consider?

JOSH FRYDENBERG:

Well, first thing to say is that there will be lessons out of this fire season and the Prime Minister’s already foreshadowed a Royal Commission and a proposal that he would take through the Cabinet process. Now when it comes to what such an enquiry would look at obviously the relationships between the federal and state governments when it comes to emergencies such as these. The constitutional powers, the legal powers, the ability to call out the Australian Defence Force as required. Secondly, we are going through a period of climate change. Climate change is real, we accept the science. Our habitat, our environment is becoming hotter and drier and that is impacting on the bushfire season. It’s impacting on other natural disasters as well. So we need to focus on that as part of the formal enquiry in terms of better understanding how do we prepare the level of resilience across our communities, how do we adapt, how do we mitigate some of the challenges that we face?

Now when it comes to climate change, we signed up to the Paris Agreement, that is a 26 to 28 per cent reduction in our emission by 2030 on 2005 levels. Australia will meet and beat that target just as we have met and beaten previous targets. When we came to government our 2020 target, we were on track to miss that target by more than 700 million tonnes.

Now we’re on track to beat that target by more than 400 million tonnes. That’s equivalent to about 80 per cent of the emissions the country, the economy produces every year. And when it comes to our 2030 target, we’re 12.8 per cent down in terms of our emissions on 2005 levels, while New Zealand’s emissions have been going up in that period, China’s emissions are going up 67 per cent, India’s emissions have been going up by 77 per cent. They key point is, Australia needs to do its part, Australia is doing its part and we are dealing with a global challenge that we need to be part of a global solution and I have great confidence too in the technologies that we’re investing in.

The technologies will help drive a smaller carbon footprint and you’ve heard from the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, our investments in mirco-grids, biofuels Snowy 2.0 the work we’re doing with the Battery of the Nation including tapping the potential in Tasmania to support more renewables into the grid. We’ve got a full court press when it comes to our energy system and all our focus is on adapting, mitigating technology adoption but without compromising the strength of our economy, without compromising jobs.

We believe you can reduce emissions and we are reducing emissions without compromising jobs, without new taxes, that’s where our focus is.

JOURNALIST:

Treasurer aren’t our emissions projected to flatline towards 2030? Why?

JOSH FRYDENBERG:

Actually we’re going to be reducing them by 26 to 28 per cent by 2030 on 2005 levels. And emissions now on average around 50 million tonnes lower than under the previous government. That’s not insignificant. We are seeing a smaller carbon footprint across the economy, at the same time our population’s been growing and our economy’s been growing. But we absolutely need to manage this transition in a very sensible way and the Prime Minister yesterday used the term balanced. The extremes of this debate for some people, whatever you do will never be enough, for others whatever you do will be too much. There is a sensible, balanced approach to emissions reduction adopting new technologies and that’s what the Morrison Government is focused on.

JOURNALIST:

You mentioned collaboration with the states. It’s no secret the relationship between the Federal and New South Wales State Government has been tense it’s safe to say throughout this crisis, do you think the State Government could’ve done more to avoid the calamity that we saw and do you think going forward, what recommendations would you be giving to the Berejiklian Government?

JOSH FRYDENBERG:

Well I won’t be giving them recommendations I have to say I’ve only got praise for the work of the states, in fact I’ve been working very closely with my Treasury counterpart Dom Perrottet in regular contact with him just as I am with Tim Pallas in Victoria and Rob Lucas in South Australia and Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Gladys Berejiklian and Steven Marshall and Daniel Andrews have all worked very effectively together. And we heard from Daniel Andrews himself praise the response and cooperation he’s been given from the Federal Government saying everything he’s asked for he has received and I think that’s a very telling statement.

JOURNALIST:

Treasurer the PM’s approval rating’s taken a hit in the latest Newspoll, what do you make of that and can he regain the public’s faith in him?

JOSH FRYDENBERG:

Well we’ve heard the message loud and clear from the Australian people,they want to see the Federal Government adopt a very direct response to these natural and national disasters and that’s what we’re doing. The unprecedented call out of ADF reservists, now 2,700 in number, the deployment of our amphibious vessels including HMAS Choules and HMAS Adelaide, the use of our aerial support, getting a new aerial water bombing aircraft, the establishment of the National $2 Billion Disaster Bushfire Recovery Agency with that initial down payment under the leadership of Andrew Colvin. We’ve got more announcements to come in future days but we’re focused on learning the lessons of the tragedies that we’ve seen over recent weeks and months with these fires, supporting the communities in every way possible and of course working very collaboratively with the partners and the stakeholders including many in the environment space given the ecological disaster that is unfolding and that we are determined to support in every way we can.

JOURNALIST:

But do you think the Australian public will forgive him?

JOSH FRYDENBERG:

The Australian public know that Scott Morrison is absolutely focused in delivering for them. Delivering response and recovery that is required. That’s where Scott Morrison’s focus is on, I spoke to him this morning , we’re in regular contact every day. The colleagues are very much focused on ensuring the community gets the support, it’ not about what it costs, it’s about whatever it takes, it’s about the bottom line of saving lives, supporting volunteers and supporting communities get back on their feet. That’s why we’ve seen the unprecedented collaboration and unprecedented support from the Federal Government.

JOURNALIST:

Were you disappointed by the behaviour of the Young Liberals recently at a Brisbane library where they were seen using (inaudible)?

JOSH FRYDENBERG:

Well that behaviour’s unacceptable. Thank you