❓ A parliamentary question regarding the translocation of endangered animals from Barrow Island, specifically addressing the timing and potential impact of the translocation due to construction and seasonal factors. The Minister's response defends the translocation process.
AnsweredQoN 18Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
BARROW ISLAND — ENDANGERED ANIMAL TRANSLOCATION
I refer to the recent translocation of endangered animals from Barrow Island. (1) Was the translocation originally planned for later this year? (2) Was the translocation brought forward because the construction program was brought forward by the company? (3) Did the minister consider the likelihood of a reduced survival rate as a result of translocating at the hottest time of the year; and, if not, why not? Hon DONNA FARAGHER
I refer to the recent translocation of endangered animals from Barrow Island. (1) Was the translocation originally planned for later this year? (2) Was the translocation brought forward because the construction program was brought forward by the company? (3) Did the minister consider the likelihood of a reduced survival rate as a result of translocating at the hottest time of the year; and, if not, why not? Hon DONNA FARAGHER
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
(1) Was the translocation originally planned for later this year? (2) Was the translocation brought forward because the construction program was brought forward by the company? (3) Did the minister consider the likelihood of a reduced survival rate as a result of translocating at the hottest time of the year; and, if not, why not? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: (1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
(2) Was the translocation brought forward because the construction program was brought forward by the company? (3) Did the minister consider the likelihood of a reduced survival rate as a result of translocating at the hottest time of the year; and, if not, why not? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: (1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
(3) Did the minister consider the likelihood of a reduced survival rate as a result of translocating at the hottest time of the year; and, if not, why not? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: (1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: (1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
(1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
(1) Was the translocation originally planned for later this year? (2) Was the translocation brought forward because the construction program was brought forward by the company? (3) Did the minister consider the likelihood of a reduced survival rate as a result of translocating at the hottest time of the year; and, if not, why not? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: (1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
(2) Was the translocation brought forward because the construction program was brought forward by the company? (3) Did the minister consider the likelihood of a reduced survival rate as a result of translocating at the hottest time of the year; and, if not, why not? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: (1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
(3) Did the minister consider the likelihood of a reduced survival rate as a result of translocating at the hottest time of the year; and, if not, why not? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: (1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: (1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
(1)–(3) I thank the member for her question. I am aware of some comments that the honourable member has made on this matter. I will say this generally, and then I will come to the member’s question: with respect to the translocation of these threatened species, the Department of Environment and Conservation has done translocations for over 20 years. It has done more than 50 translocations and has very great success, too. Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
Hon Giz Watson : How about Project Desert Dreaming? It was a disaster. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
Hon DONNA FARAGHER : We can talk about that further. The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
The advice I have on this translocation is that it has been very successful. There has been a suggestion that we are taking all the animals off the island. That is just ridiculous; we are not doing that. It is up to 1 000 animals. If the member considers the number of bandicoots on Barrow Island, there are between 40 000 to 60 000, and to suggest that all the animals have been taken off the island because of the Gorgon project is absolutely wrong. Having said that, I understand that the translocation process has been completed. It was brought forward in part. Work had already been undertaken, but some of the translocations were brought forward insomuch as some of the clearing work was beginning. All the animals were not taken from a particular spot; they were taken from across a number of areas. However, in one spot, where some of the clearing was occurring, it was thought appropriate to remove some of those animals. It is fair to say that the advice I have is that the translocation has occurred very well. I was up there, and I saw it first-hand. I received very good briefings from the department, and some very committed members of the department are overseeing this process.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.