cockies, who's helping who?

report from the roundtable - 26 oct

I felt the need at this week's council meeting to respond to a letter sent to us by the Minister for Environment, Gavin Jennings about the cockatoo problems in the Dandenong Ranges.

Some of the damage caused by cockatoos in 2009. There is a direct link between feeding and this type of behaviour. Rather than foraging in the wild, cockatoos get an easy feed but still need to hone their beaks by chewing.
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The Minister wrote to council in response to a letter we'd sent regarding the ongoing issue of feeding cockatoos. The Minister made us aware of a flyer the Department of Sustainability and Environment has produced encouraging the public not to feed birds. The Minister went on to say "the material has been provided to the Shire of Yarra Ranges for distribution to interested ratepayers".

It was at this point I felt I needed to call the Minister to account. The Shire paid for the distribution of flyers to "interested ratepayers" and my ward fund paid for the printing of the flyers.

The Minister went on to say there are no plans to develop regulations that prohibit the feeding of wildlife in Victoria or Yarra Ranges even though the Wildlife Act 1975 provides the Head of Power to do so.