Mr HENDERSON - 1999-08-12
The minister seems to delight in gaining publicity for himself by trivialising the arrival of cane toads. I ask the minister why the Territory branch of the Liberal Party has failed to heed the CSIRO’s assessment that a biological method to address the toad problem may be within reach. Will his government adopt the call of Professor Mike Tyler to: (1) immediately fund trials of biological repellents and attractants; (2) pursue the resumption of the federal government’s investments in biological research aimed at minimising the impact of the toads; and (3) start developing pro-active strategies to mobilise the community to mitigate the toad invasion, along the lines of the successful New South Wales community involvement strategy?
Mr HATTON: A point of order, Mr Speaker!That question clearly anticipates the debate coming up on the MPI later today.
Mr SPEAKER: That’s not a problem. The member may ask such a question.
ANSWER
I am delighted to answer it, Mr Speaker, and show how ill-informed the honourable new member for Wanguri is. I think he might have been set up by a couple of his colleagues. One of them might be the bearded chap there who didn’t do well on this subject previously.
This is another myth. I can see that the new member has been to the Clare Martin School of Deceit already, because he is trying to deceive Territorians about the facts. Here comes an interjection!
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! He does have to refer to the member by electorate.
Mr SPEAKER: Yes.
Mr Palmer: He was referring to an establishment, not to the member. He was referring to the Clare Martin School of Deceit.
Mr SPEAKER: Just to be clear, all members must be referred to by their electorates.
Mr REED: I agree, Mr Speaker. I wouldn’t challenge your judgment for a moment. But, clearly, the honourable member has graduated with honours from the particular school to which I refer. I say that because he and his colleagues opposite suggest that nothing is being done or has been done to halt the progress of the cane toad.
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr REED: Mumble, mumble over there. That wasn’t a cane toad, it was the member for Stuart.
To try to deceive Territorians into believing that that is the fact …
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr REED: Do you want to hear the answer or do you want to keep moaning? God, you’re a moaner!
$10m has been spent by the Territory and Commonwealth governments in trying to find a way of stopping the cane toad. $10m, and has work stopped? No, work hasn’t stopped. You are not even aware - the School of Deceit didn’t tell you - that there is still work being done by the CSIRO to try to find a biological means of halting the progress of the cane toad. Are you not aware of that? He sits there dumbfounded. ‘Oh God, something’s been done and I didn’t know about it’. That’s how bright he is. He has done nothing but demonstrate his incapacity to get across the job. He’s been set up.
Work is being done, overseas where the cane toad comes from and by the CSIRO here in Australia, to try to find a biological control. Do we have this problem on our own? Are we the only ones faced with the progress of the cane toad in Australia? No, we are not. That raises another point that would have missed the attention of the member when he was at the School of Deceit. Among the 3 to 4 million people who live in Sydney these days, do you think they’re not looking for a solution to this problem? A year or 2 ago, when the people of Sydney were told that the cane toad would be on their doorsteps, in all likelihood before the Olympics, they didn’t believe it. Is the honourable member aware how many cane toads are being found near Sydney? Fifty a year in rough terms.
A scientific group monitoring the progress of the cane toad recognises that nothing can be done to stop its forward march. Nothing can be done. It’s not just us who recognise the reality. The School of Deceit doesn’t teach reality, and that is the member’s problem. That’s where he’s fallen over in his first week in parliament.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr REED: Hello, here’s the mouth! What do you want?
Mr Stirling: With a little investment …
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: Thank you for that illuminating comment. $10m we have spent, and ‘a little investment’ can go a long way. Everyone around the country has recognised that there is no solution to this problem, however much we might not want the cane toad to come into our backyard. And I make another point. Not only …
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Nhulunbuy is taking it a little too far. You are warned.
Mr REED: From the point of view of we ourselves not wanting cane toads in our midst, I completely agree. Those of us who go fishing, camping, enjoying the benefits of the outdoor lifestyle in the Northern Territory, don’t want cane toads among us.
You’re related to them. I can excuse you. When
I turned on the ‘ribbit-ribbit-ribbit’ the other day, he jumped out of his chair and started hopping across the Chamber.
The people of Sydney want a solution as much as we do. The people of Adelaide are going to start asking the same questions, because from northern New South Wales the cane toad is now starting to hop westward. It will soon be in the Darling River catchment. It will do the same there as it has done coming across Queensland and the Northern Territory, following river systems. It will enter the Murray/Darling system and eventually reach Adelaide.
It is not a problem that we are ignoring. But you have to recognise - even you, even the graduate with honours from the School of Deceit – that it is not just us who are concerned about this. We are not the only ones doing something about it. Australian scientists know more about the cane toad than any others in the world, including those in the countries it comes from. At the moment, no solution is known. The scientists agree on that. We are still working on it. You go back to the School of Deceit.
Mr HATTON: A point of order, Mr Speaker!That question clearly anticipates the debate coming up on the MPI later today.
Mr SPEAKER: That’s not a problem. The member may ask such a question.
ANSWER
I am delighted to answer it, Mr Speaker, and show how ill-informed the honourable new member for Wanguri is. I think he might have been set up by a couple of his colleagues. One of them might be the bearded chap there who didn’t do well on this subject previously.
This is another myth. I can see that the new member has been to the Clare Martin School of Deceit already, because he is trying to deceive Territorians about the facts. Here comes an interjection!
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! He does have to refer to the member by electorate.
Mr SPEAKER: Yes.
Mr Palmer: He was referring to an establishment, not to the member. He was referring to the Clare Martin School of Deceit.
Mr SPEAKER: Just to be clear, all members must be referred to by their electorates.
Mr REED: I agree, Mr Speaker. I wouldn’t challenge your judgment for a moment. But, clearly, the honourable member has graduated with honours from the particular school to which I refer. I say that because he and his colleagues opposite suggest that nothing is being done or has been done to halt the progress of the cane toad.
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr REED: Mumble, mumble over there. That wasn’t a cane toad, it was the member for Stuart.
To try to deceive Territorians into believing that that is the fact …
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr REED: Do you want to hear the answer or do you want to keep moaning? God, you’re a moaner!
$10m has been spent by the Territory and Commonwealth governments in trying to find a way of stopping the cane toad. $10m, and has work stopped? No, work hasn’t stopped. You are not even aware - the School of Deceit didn’t tell you - that there is still work being done by the CSIRO to try to find a biological means of halting the progress of the cane toad. Are you not aware of that? He sits there dumbfounded. ‘Oh God, something’s been done and I didn’t know about it’. That’s how bright he is. He has done nothing but demonstrate his incapacity to get across the job. He’s been set up.
Work is being done, overseas where the cane toad comes from and by the CSIRO here in Australia, to try to find a biological control. Do we have this problem on our own? Are we the only ones faced with the progress of the cane toad in Australia? No, we are not. That raises another point that would have missed the attention of the member when he was at the School of Deceit. Among the 3 to 4 million people who live in Sydney these days, do you think they’re not looking for a solution to this problem? A year or 2 ago, when the people of Sydney were told that the cane toad would be on their doorsteps, in all likelihood before the Olympics, they didn’t believe it. Is the honourable member aware how many cane toads are being found near Sydney? Fifty a year in rough terms.
A scientific group monitoring the progress of the cane toad recognises that nothing can be done to stop its forward march. Nothing can be done. It’s not just us who recognise the reality. The School of Deceit doesn’t teach reality, and that is the member’s problem. That’s where he’s fallen over in his first week in parliament.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr REED: Hello, here’s the mouth! What do you want?
Mr Stirling: With a little investment …
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: Thank you for that illuminating comment. $10m we have spent, and ‘a little investment’ can go a long way. Everyone around the country has recognised that there is no solution to this problem, however much we might not want the cane toad to come into our backyard. And I make another point. Not only …
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Nhulunbuy is taking it a little too far. You are warned.
Mr REED: From the point of view of we ourselves not wanting cane toads in our midst, I completely agree. Those of us who go fishing, camping, enjoying the benefits of the outdoor lifestyle in the Northern Territory, don’t want cane toads among us.
You’re related to them. I can excuse you. When
I turned on the ‘ribbit-ribbit-ribbit’ the other day, he jumped out of his chair and started hopping across the Chamber.
The people of Sydney want a solution as much as we do. The people of Adelaide are going to start asking the same questions, because from northern New South Wales the cane toad is now starting to hop westward. It will soon be in the Darling River catchment. It will do the same there as it has done coming across Queensland and the Northern Territory, following river systems. It will enter the Murray/Darling system and eventually reach Adelaide.
It is not a problem that we are ignoring. But you have to recognise - even you, even the graduate with honours from the School of Deceit – that it is not just us who are concerned about this. We are not the only ones doing something about it. Australian scientists know more about the cane toad than any others in the world, including those in the countries it comes from. At the moment, no solution is known. The scientists agree on that. We are still working on it. You go back to the School of Deceit.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016