Featherdale Wildlife Park
- Extract from Legislative Council Hansard of 17/10/96
FEATHERDALE WILDLIFE PARK
The Hon. J. F. RYAN [4.45]: Honourable
members may recall that during the last sitting week I raised a number
of matters relating to the enforcement of wildlife regulations by the enforcement
branch of the National Parks and Wildlife Service and I made particular
mention of the Featherdale Wildlife Park at Doonside. In addition, my colleague
the Hon. R. S. L. Jones addressed a question without notice to the Minister
for the Environment about the same matter. I named a number of people and
tabled a wad of documents which confirmed that for over 20 years the manager
Page 4971
of Featherdale Wildlife Park, Mr Bruce Kubbere, had been protected by senior
officials of the National Parks and Wildlife Service from being prosecuted
for failing to keep proper records, failing to report the deaths of about
50 koalas, illegally selling protected birds that he had no licence to
keep in the first place, obtaining koalas from the wild and falsifying
records to pass them off as being captive breed exhibits.
I said then and I say again that none of these well-documented allegations
has brought the slightest response from the Minister or the National Parks
and Wildlife Service. I interpret that lack of response to mean that no
response is possible because no legitimate answer is available to the questions
which I have raised in this House. If the senior officers involved think
that this issue will just go away they are greatly mistaken. I have plenty
more material and I will keep raising this issue until I get a satisfactory
response. The constraints of time have prevented me from raising all these
issues at once, so I will continue this process until all the story is
out and a satisfactory explanation is given.
Today I refer to the actions of both Taronga Zoo and the National Parks
and Wildlife Service in selling or giving protected birds to Mr Kubbere
after they had been seized from Allan Parmenter, a bird smuggler. I have
a schedule of birds which were taken from Mr Parmenter on 29 July 1987.
By leave, I table that document. I understand that it was, and still is,
the policy of the National Parks and Wildlife Service to seize illegal
wildlife and return it to the wild as soon as practicable. The operation
in 1987 against Mr Parmenter netted 68 birds. I want to know why 22 of
those birds were either given or sold to Mr Bruce Kubbere rather than being
released to the wild. I want to know why the National Parks and Wildlife
Service even considered selling any protected wildlife to Mr Kubbere, given
his previously well-documented poor record in keeping appropriate records
and in selling protected wildlife without a licence.
In view of Mr Kubbere's record, giving protected birds to him was about
the equivalent of giving chickens to Colonel Sanders. Besides the concerns
that I have raised today I wish also to put on the record that I have spoken
to at least two employees - and I have the name and contact details of
another former employee of Mr Kubbere - who claim that they were physically
harassed by an associate of Mr Kubbere as a means of intimidating them
and preventing them from giving evidence to authorities. At the time that
an investigation was being carried out into Mr Kubbere's koala handling
procedures three former employees of the Featherdale Wildlife Park received
either personal visits or threatening phone calls from a person called
Marty Fiarugia, an associate of Mr Kubbere. Both people have the same interest
in collecting protected birds.
In one instance, Mr Fiarugia, this bird-collecting colleague of Mr Kubbere,
visited the family of a former Featherdale employee while he was away giving
a statement to the Department of Agriculture in Orange. Mr Fiarugia paid
a second visit to this employee and threatened to shoot him if he continued
to give evidence to authorities. The employee was so concerned that on
two occasions he reported these incidents to the police. This evidence
has been available to National Parks and Wildlife Service officers but,
to the best of my knowledge, they have never interviewed the people concerned.
I ask again: why has Mr Kubbere been given such special treatment by the
National Parks and Wildlife Service? Why has it not taken action against
him when it has sufficient evidence to prosecute? Why did it sell Mr Kubbere
protected wildlife in view of what was known about him? When will the National
Parks and Wildlife Service respond to these serious concerns?
Extract from the Legislative Council Hansard of 17/10/96
- Corrected Copy