Saffin sidesteps the crucial question on the Maclean bats issue

February 24, 2010

Federal Member for Page Janelle Saffin has refused to answer the one key question in her latest comments on the Maclean Bats issue, Federal Member for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker said today.

In a newspaper report published today Ms Saffin focused on the ‘process’ of applying for a licence application to remove the bats. “Janelle Saffin has failed to answer the key question on the Maclean bats. That is; does she support the removal of the bat colony? In the end her commitment to delivering an outcome for her constituents depends on that one vital point.

“The Member for Page is torn between her own extreme left views and the welfare of the local community. She is trying to hide behind a bureaucratic process which has never had any intention to relocate the bats. The endless buck passing between government departments was all about ensuring no application for the removal of the bats was lodged. Now at the eleventh hour, when community frustration has reached boiling point, Ms Saffin is telling Maclean High School to apply for a licence.

“Instead of trying to wash her hands of this issue, with the lame excuse that the school is not in her electorate, Ms Saffin should have spent a little more time listening to her constituents. She would have then realised the bureaucrats said right from the beginning that they would not support any application for a licence to remove the bats. That is why no application has ever been drafted.

“I once again invite Ms Saffin to join me in a bipartisan effort to have these bats removed. This can occur if Ms Saffin and her Labor colleagues support my Private Members Bill to deliver emergency powers to the Federal Minister for the Environment. The only way that State and Federal Governments will act is if the community keeps up the public pressure. That’s why Janelle Saffin’s do-nothing approach to this issue has been so disappointing.  It is also important that we get a long term solution to this issue so that students, teachers and residents are not exposed to this problem on an annual basis. Janelle Saffin has to support measures that ensure the bats do not return.

“As it stands the Federal Minister can not approve a licence until he receives an application. And almost four months after the so called ‘Working Group’ was established there is still no sign of one being submitted.”