ADJOURNMENT

Senator FARUQI (New South Wales—Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens) (20:10): On 24 October I marked World Kangaroo Day at the Kangaroos Alive screening of the movie Kangaroo, alongside film director Kate Clere and Yuin scholar Peter Hewitt. While we celebrated the kangaroo, called the buru in Dharug, we know they are being systematically slaughtered across the country for the profit of the commercial kangaroo industry.

Every year the Australian government permits the commercial slaughter of up to three million kangaroos. The actual figure is likely much bigger, because of course there is no reporting or transparency requirement from wildlife shooters. This is the largest slaughter of land based wildlife in the world, and it's done through legalised cruelty.

The National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes even allows joeys to be killed by a blow to the head, and state guidelines explicitly instruct that a joey's brain 'must be destroyed'. We have seen report after distressing report on these slow and painful deaths of kangaroos. This is how an iconic species and a national emblem, whose sculpture is right here in this chamber, is treated.

This is how a powerful, sacred totem for First Nations people is treated in this country. There is a deep and enduring cultural and ancestral connection and relationship between First Nations people and the kangaroo. The Yuin declaration tells us that as kangaroos 'traverse their own dreaming tracks they continue to activate the earth's songlines for the survival of all living things.' And here we are commercially slaughtering kangaroos.

There's a real irony when governments call the kangaroo a 'protected species' and then allow commercial killing quotas in the millions. Many refer to them as 'pests' and claim they are in 'plague proportions'. It's a myth that kangaroo breeding is out of control.

Kangaroos can breed only one young to independence in 12 to 18 months in the very best of conditions. The data used to set quotas for commercial culling is inaccurate as it uses flawed methodologies, makes assumptions and extrapolates to estimate much higher populations—up to two to four times greater than they actually are. Kangaroos, or any animals for that matter, should not be measured in relation to the benefit that they can provide humans, because they are sentient beings who have intrinsic value and who have a right to life and to an enjoyment of that life.

But if we do go down that calculation then you cannot overestimate their social, cultural, ecological and even economic value—not as skins for products, nor as animal food, but as the unique wildlife they are and for the visitors that come to this country for wildlife experiences. So there is a lot more that we could be doing to look after and protect kangaroos.

Brands like Adidas, Nike, Prada and many more have banned the use of kangaroo skins. The Netherlands, Italy and Belgium have proposed bills and have a growing consensus to ban imports of kangaroo products. California has a ban on the importation of all kangaroo products.

A FOUR PAWS poll in 2021 showed that 84 per cent of adults globally are concerned for the welfare of kangaroos. How incredibly embarrassing for Australia that the whole world turns away in disgust at our commercial kangaroo slaughter industry that is still going on here. Many people come to Australia with a top priority of seeing Australia's unique wildlife.

I know that money can be everything for some, but even the profits don't measure up to this mass cruelty. This industry only makes $270 million a year, whereas wildlife experiences accounted for over $2.3 billion in 2024, with kangaroos leading the charge. This is still an untapped market of ecotourism.

The commercial killing of kangaroos is fast losing its social licence, as it should. Kangaroos deserve protection. But, at the government level, it's in name only.

The work to protect them is being done by activists, by rescuers and by animal welfare organisations who put their heart and soul and their funds into it. We must do better.