Mr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (13:54): Last Saturday, 7 September was Threatened Species Day, and I’d like to give a shout out for some practical environmentalism. There is no doubt that one of the greatest threats to our native species in Australia are introduced weeds and pests, particularly animals. There is an ecologist and environmental scientist by the name of Dr John Read who lives in, or at least in the environs of, my home town of Kimba. He has established his own sanctuary zone, along with his partner, Dr Katherine Moseby. They helped establish the Arid Recovery zone for BHP up at Roxby Downs. One of the first things they found out was that you need to get rid of feral animals. So John has developed a cat remover. It’s called the Felixer. In fact, he has used a combination of science and common sense and has developed a unit that can actually recognise a feral cat in the wild in the night-time and spray a toxin onto its fur as it goes past. Then, when it cleans up after breakfast, that’s the end of that particular cat. Feral cats hunt and kill bilbies, numbats, quokkas, quolls, bandicoots, parrots, lizards, frogs and many other endangered species. The endangered black-footed wallaby has even been found inside the stomach of a 6½ kilogram feral cat. Well done, John Read! Keep up the good work!
Rowan Ramsey MP
Federal Member for Grey
