Page 4822 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 1 November 2017
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amnesty in the future, I am happy to take the advice of the Firearms Consultative Committee, ACT Policing and any other stakeholders on that.
MRS JONES: Minister, given the feedback that some people drove away from the firearms dealer rather than handing in at the police because of their level of comfort, would you consider making changes for the next amnesty so we get more weapons handed in than we did?
MR GENTLEMAN: I have not received that sort of feedback at all from ACT Policing. However, I will take Mrs Jones’s comments on board. As we think about any future amnesties we will have a look at that.
MR HANSON: Do you have any evidence that you can provide that shows that precluding firearms dealers from the ACT gun amnesty would be more successful than including them?
MR GENTLEMAN: No. As I said, when we were proposing a drop-off point for firearms we engaged with stakeholders across the ACT, including ACT Police, the firearms consultative committee and key stakeholders. That was a decision on the policy matter.
Environment—little eagle conservation
MS CODY: My question is to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage. Can the minister update the Assembly on the ACT’s little eagle population?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Ms Cody for her question and her interest in the environment right across the ACT. The little eagle is a medium-sized raptor endemic to Australia. It is found in open grassland and woodland habitats across most of the mainland. Since capturing the public’s imagination last year with its long-distance commute home to Canberra, one little eagle has spurred interest in the species and those that live and breed in Canberra.
This particular little eagle flew more than 3,300 kilometres back to the capital city after wintering in the Daly Waters region of the Northern Territory. This far-travelling little eagle made its home range in the ACT. The range itself extended from south of Strathnairn, to east of the Murrumbidgee River, across to Wallaroo in the north and the CSIRO lands in the east, and encompassed two known nesting sites at Strathnairn and CSIRO.
The ACT is lucky to play host to four breeding pairs of little eagles, two of which last year produced a fledgling each. The year before, a breeding pair also raised a fledgling on the CSIRO Ginninderra site. Unfortunately the little eagle is listed as a vulnerable species in both the ACT and New South Wales, but not nationally, due to competition with other birds of prey such as wedge-tails; secondary poisoning from Pindone, a rabbit control measure; and with loss and fragmentation of habitat.
However, the ACT government remains committed to preserving and expanding the population of little eagles in the territory. In 2013, a new nest site was found and
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