Page 3812 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 19 September 2018
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that is in defiance of scientific advice and in defiance of good environmental outcomes.
Scientific research shows that brumbies do substantial environmental damage. The biggest impact they have is on waterways, swamps and bogs, which are particularly sensitive environments compared to some others. The brumbies dig out and churn up waterways and wetlands. This can drain the wetlands; it can cause erosion; it can reduce water quality. These all have significant negative impacts on the environment.
I have witnessed this damage firsthand myself, and I have been shown extensive images of other parts of Kosciusko National Park, in particular, that I have not seen by people who have spent many years up there, members of the National Parks Association and other concerned citizens who have documented the impacts that brumbies can have when they are free to roam in our high national park areas that are particularly sensitive.
We know that the alpine national parks contain slow-growing species because of the extreme environments that they are present in. This has an impact not only directly on the species themselves but on the whole of the ecosystem. For example, the endangered northern corroboree frog requires these sorts of areas, the wetlands, bogs and waterways, for their summer breeding habitat. There are only three populations left of the northern corroboree frog. One is in Namadgi National Park at the Ginini flats wetlands complex. Brumbies could cause very significant damage to the Ginini flats wetlands should they spend significant amounts of time in there.
Let me put that in context. When we talk about the northern corroboree frog, we must realise that it is one of those species that is right on the edge. It is one that we are battling to protect and to preserve, to ensure that it does not go extinct. If the horses were to get into that wetland, they would potentially have a significant and dramatic effect on those remaining limited populations of the northern corroboree frog. It is just a risk we should not be taking. If the New South Wales government, in taking this decision, do not effectively manage feral horses through the areas that they are responsible for, the prospect of that impact is raised.
When it comes to the impact of the New South Wales legislation on the ACT, we know that ecosystems do not stick to human borders. It is a bit of a cliche, but it is one that is worth reiterating in this context. Small groups of brumbies can make their way into the ACT. I have had the opportunity to look at the areas just over the border in New South Wales, and I was shocked—this was back in 2012—by the number of horses roaming through the valleys just across the range on the other side in New South Wales. There were incredible numbers of horses in those areas.
The New South Wales decision simply increases the opportunity that these will spill over into the ACT. If they are not managed and controlled, the populations will go up and we will see the potential for more of those horses to get into Namadgi and, despite the best efforts of our rangers, have detrimental impacts on the sensitive environments in Namadgi National Park. We therefore support the calls in the motion.
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