PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Mr CHESTER (Gippsland—Deputy Leader of the National Party) (11:56): I move: That this House: (1) acknowledges: (a) the significant contribution Australia's livestock producers make to regional economies, employment and the nation's food security; (b) that wild dogs are a serious and growing threat to livestock, costing an estimated $302 million in production losses each year; and (c) the burden carried by property owners to deal with the wild dog predation on stock; (2) notes that: (a) the Government has cut important pest and invasive species management programs, despite the significant and growing economic impact of invasive species on Australian agriculture; (b) federal funding for the National Wild Dog Management Coordinator is due to expire at the end of September 2026, with funding for the National Wild Dog Action Plan expiring a month later; (c) the coordinator and the plan provide a nationally agreed, evidence-based framework that enables coordinated control across state and territory borders; and (d) industry bodies have committed to co-funding the national wild dog program, yet the Government has chosen to ignore its responsibility to support coordinated wild dog control; and (3) urges the Government to: (a) guarantee ongoing funding to maintain the National Wild Dog Management Coordinator role; (b) renew funding for the National Wild Dog Action Plan to continue the second half of the ten year management program; (c) recognise that a nationally coordinated approach to pests management is essential to protecting livestock, agricultural productivity and the prosperity of regional Australia; and (d) commit to ongoing investment in the coordinated management and control of wild dogs and other invasive species that threaten Australian agriculture, regional communities and the environment.

I move this motion on behalf of our world-class livestock producers in Gippsland and throughout regional Australia. Wild dogs are one of the clearest examples of Labor governments at state and federal level failing to support our farmers, when pressure on them is actually increasing. This isn't a fringe issue.

It goes to the heart of what regional communities expect from Canberra, which is certainty and action on the ground. Put simply, we need more boots and less suits—that's more boots on the ground, doing practical environmental work, and less suits in Canberra and Melbourne making excuses. Wild dog predation costs Australian livestock producers in the order of $302 million a year in production costs.

Those opposite may say this is primarily a state issue. Frankly, that is dodging their responsibility, because, while the state governments should not be let off the hook, there are very significant national issues that need to be dealt with in this place when it comes to invasive species. When it comes to national food security, we have to work with the state governments and our landholders to protect them from losses associated with predators like wild dogs.

When it comes to feeding the rest of the world with our imports, we need to make sure that our farmers can continue to produce that world-class protein that I referred to earlier. And, when it comes to invasive species, there needs to be some leadership in this place, in Canberra, to make sure we continue to keep the pressure on those species which are damaging the agricultural sector and our biodiversity, because our farmers cannot be expected to tackle these problems by themselves, particularly when it comes to wild dogs, which are emerging primarily from public land.

Whether it be national parks, state forests or some other form of Crown land, the worst neighbour to have in many of our communities is public land managed by the state government. Wild dogs simply don't stop at the border of public land, and they don't stop at a state border. The other point I want to make in relation to this issue before the House today is that this is also a mental health issue.

Farmers and farming families are dealing with this issue on top of all of their other day-to-day tasks. On top of every other difficult issue they're dealing with on a day-to-day basis—trying to manage the regulation, trying to make sure they make a profit, dealing with seasonal conditions—they then have to protect their stock from predation by wild dogs emerging from public land.

In electorates like Gippsland, which have many farms surrounded by public land, this is an ongoing challenge. I want to refer to one of my constituents, Stuart, a fifth-generation farmer from Benambra. He wrote to me and said, 'Given all the regular issues and struggles we deal with in this industry, we certainly can't afford the time and cost of this dog issue getting out of hand again.' He went on to say, 'Thankfully, I'm not particularly susceptible to mental health issues, but I was absolutely furious this morning when I found a gutted lamb.

That could take a toll, potentially, in future; it's hard to know.' The reason I'm raising this in the federal Parliament is because federal funding for the National Wild Dog Management Coordinator expires at the end of September this year, and funding for the National Wild Dog Action Plan expires a month after that. We are yet to hear from the Albanese government whether it will continue to fund those two important roles.

Industry is seeking a federal commitment of just $250,000 a year over five years to keep the coordinator role and the action plan running. Again, in the context of a $302 million annual cost to livestock producers, that is a tiny amount of money to assist our world-class farming families. I want to close by referencing one of our peak bodies, the National Farmers' Federation, just to demonstrate that this has nothing to do with party politics.

When you have peak leadership groups in the farming sector on board with an issue, I call on the government to pay attention. The National Farmers' Federation president, Hamish McIntyre, has said, 'Wild dogs are especially cruel killers, often leaving livestock to suffer slow, painful deaths from their bites,' and: 'We're only halfway through a 10-year management plan.

There's still a lot of important work ahead.' McIntyre also said, regarding the September deadline, 'It's vital that the national coordinator is reinstated come September. If funding isn't renewed, we'll be undoing more than a decade of progress.' We simply can't afford to go backwards. This motion is not asking for something radical.

It asks the government to keep funding what it was already funding previously, and keep doing what has been working in terms of other major pest species around the nation. Farmers have done their part. Industry has done its part by committing to co-funding.

It's time for the government to do its part. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Fernando ): Is there a seconder for this motion? Mr Birrell: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.