Page 420 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 2 March 1994
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I would like to pay tribute to everyone who has contributed to this inquiry - the people who wrote in, the people who had casual discussions with members of the committee and the people who appeared at the public hearings. I would like to thank, as the chair did, secretary Bill Symington. We had mountains of material to sift through. There were views put to us as different as black is from white, and we needed to plough through them and come down with recommendations and comments that hopefully are accepted by the broad majority of the community. I would also like to thank my fellow committee members. It has been a very interesting and very challenging inquiry. We can come up with this sort of product at the end only after going through a process of really working hard together as a team. As we have said many times here, yet again a committee has come up with a very good product after a lot of congenial work. This is an ideal way of proving that the work of MLAs is not merely measured by sitting days.
MR WESTENDE (4.07): Madam Speaker, what can I say? Our chair and Ms Ellis have already covered most of the points. To understand the problem, you have to read the whole report. It is a quite extensive report. Like Ms Ellis, I am particularly pleased that we could present a unanimous report and that there were no differences in the outcome that we all wanted to achieve.
However, there is a small area of the report which I believe is of significance - and I would like to talk about it, albeit briefly - and that is the awareness of the presence of feral cats in and around the ACT. The committee believes that there is enough evidence, in the form of depredation of native animals, that cats are efficient hunters and, if neglected, have the capacity to become feral. The report noted that the average female cat can produce at least two litters a year at any time and that, except for purebred and domestic cats whose movements are closely supervised, cats have the capacity to produce strays which become feral. With an estimated population of some 30,000 cats in the ACT able to produce as many as, say, 12 offspring a year, you can see the size of the problem that we could have. It is a problem sufficiently important to warrant some kind of legislation. The report, therefore, recommends that the Government legislate to register all cats, be they domestic or farm cats. Lower cost registration would be offered as an incentive to those cat owners who desex their cats, whether they be male or female. The report also recommends that there be provisions in the legislation for confining and impounding cats as well as a liability on owners for pounding fees.
The committee also found that it would be in the public interest to run information and awareness campaigns. Ms Ellis covered that matter quite eloquently. Those campaigns should target cat owners, pointing out the responsibilities of those owners to their pets. Mr Humphries has not asked me whether I own a dog. I do not own a dog, Mr Humphries, because I would not leave the dog alone at home during the day. I do not think that would be fair to the animal. I think we could well take a leaf out of this report, and those of us who have pets should at least know how to look after them.
I turn to feral plants. I believe that we can all contribute by removing invasive species from our own backyards. I must admit that I had about 15 cotoneasters in my garden and I have one left, so I have put my money where my mouth is and started to eradicate them.
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