JUDGING by views expressed by callers to Tim Cox’s ABC morning program on Tuesday this week, the fox taskforce has a tremendous job convincing the ordinary citizen to take this matter seriously. And it seems Jo Public isn’t the only one disengaged, bewildered and sceptical.
Go back a few years and you’ll see from the very start the difficulty David Llewellyn had in convincing his federal environment counterpart to kick in a few million per year to keep Tasmania fox free. Why was that, I’ve asked myself? Why wasn’t the documentary evidence and supporting action plan provided by Llewellyn’s environment department sufficiently convincing to get the feds to support this program?
So many things here simply don’t add up. Senator Murphy realised this, so did MLCs Ivan Dean and Tony Fletcher, maybe the Commonwealth Environment Minister in 2002, David Kemp did too.
Why would the State Government and its bureaucracy go into overdrive sensationally claiming that there was evidence that foxes had been smuggled into Tasmania, only to find that their own Police found not a skerrick of proof to support that notion?
Why with a $50,000 reward offered for information leading to the apprehension of the culprits — not a sausage. And when the Government itself claimed the statute of limitations might prevent a successful prosecution, this posted reward seemed like worthless tokenism.
What of all the fox hoaxes?
And what of all the fox hoaxes? There have been fanciful reports, blatant incidents of goading and flaunting, tantalizing stories … some have names attached, others are merely anonymous skirmishes — but to what end?
Sensation, intrigue, curry, sport or payback?
Why would a PIWE Minister — on one day — tell Tasmanians that the DNA evidence from a fox found dead at Burnie would be vital to confirming it was a local fox living in the downtown CBD and then never release the findings of that test?
And why would the fox taskforce accept a decomposing fox with such a fantastic story and a mailed fox skin from anonymous source, and somehow link it to a sensational photo of two faceless hunters holding a fox that was published across Tasmania? Yes, these fanciful incidents were accepted as part of the history of this unfolding fox timeline and yet now they are seen as too problematic or too unreliable.
Was the official record ever been amended? No, and I say again, it doesn’t add up.
So who was or is playing with whom here? There’s the media always looking for sensation, controversy and conflict to sell papers? Then there’s a beleaguered PWS rangers constantly facing downsizing at the hands of their well-heeled bosses. And finally there are those who might have a serious axe to grind with the authorities. Mix them together and what have we got — an unwholesome trilogy of opportunism par excellence!
Tasmania’s ecology will remain open for business to new invasive pests
Baked, boiled, simmered or freshly tossed, this tantalising appetizer is sure to draw the patrons and players in time and time again. A veritable ‘cut-and-come again cake’ that goes on providing sustenance to one and all endlessly.
With no comprehensive biosecurity plan in place, Tasmania’s ecology will remain open for business to new invasive pests, weeds and diseases. I believe, there is simply no political will to do it any differently, so the status quo will continue. The only ‘plan’ seems to be to hope the feral peril don’t get here. If they do, we’ll wait and see if they establish and spread and then either live with the consequences or find someone who’ll pay to eradicate them. Simple really, we’ve done it that way for 200 years!
Some ferals we give up on and we live with the consequences; others we try and control and hope like heck the same feral isn’t present somewhere else in the State where we haven’t looked yet.
Some will despise me for saying this, but I feel we are a very careless & care-free society. Leadership is lacking and through a combination of denial and ignorance we foul this nest. But one thing is certain … future generations will live with consequences.
So here’s my pessimistic prediction for Tasmania in the 21st century — such is this state of indifference. If we don’t already have foxes, we soon will; after we eradicate carp, they will turn up again; the devil will go extinct in the wild; more unique Tasmanian wildlife will become threatened or go extinct; and the Tasmania of 200 years ago will be the paradise lost to apathy and carelessness.
I cannot accept that it need be this way, can you?
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