News

Bat processes totally batty!

The process being demanded by the State Labor Government for the Council to get a permit to do anything about the bat colony in Gayndah is itself totally batty.  It is obvious that the zealots in the mega department of DERM are determined to make it impossible for any Council to take any real action to move bat colonies from urban areas. The devastating impacts of the bats on the people of Gayndah are obvious to anyone who walks down the street, yet DERM is requiring some ill-defined level of proof before any action is allowed to relocate the colony.  

I asked a question in Parliament to try to define what would qualify as sufficient proof or what would constitute trigger points for action and the Minister's answer makes it obvious that nothing is likely to be good enough for DERM to authorize any meaningful action to shift the bats. 

The whole process has taken many months too long when quick action to shift the first few bats would have avoided the current catastrophic situation being inflicted on the people of Gayndah. 

The LNP have given a commitment to move bats from urban areas by quick and timely interventions before colonies become established. Once they become established, as they have in Gayndah, then the actions necessary to shift them are going to be more extensive which is why it is much better to be able to move quickly and avoid such problems. 

The current system where DERM takes six months to consider permit applications and then requires ridiculous levels of proof that they themselves cannot define just ensures the problem is always going to get worse. 

There needs to be some common sense applied to this issue rather than zealous stubborn agendas from DERM and the State Labor Government.