Cockatoos at breakfast Photo: S. Baker
I am overjoyed at the support I have been receiving from the public, and the media, over the ongoing campaign against the cockatoo cull in broadway.
Since bringing the issue to light I have received many calls and emails from members of the public expressing their shock at the fact that two birds were killed and the killing of more is being considered. I have also been told heartwarming tales about the joy that cockatoos bring to inner-city residents.
Just a few blocks away from the scene of the carnage on Broadway residents of the Glebe Estate know all the local sulphur crested cockatoos personally. Many elderly people with limited mobility live here and the cockatoos are a vital connection to nature for people who have otherwise have few opportunities to experience it.
One particularly friendly cockatoo has been named ‘Chubby’ and has delighted local residents with his antics for years. Many of them were reduced to tears when they heard that he may be on death row.
Myself and a number of concerned community members have made submissions to the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Environment Minister Frank Sartor urging them not to authorise this despicable act but so far the only responses we have received have been politically sanitised non-answers.
I have therefore started this petition to help quantify the overwhelming public support for the cockatoos – Sartor may not care about the lives of the wildlife he is charged with protecting but he certainly does care about the political fortunes of his Labor Government, so let him know this is an issue that will affect your vote.