The Australian Department of the Environment and Energy failed to investigate allegations endangered and rare birds were being sold in Europe at a huge profit and instead continued issuing permits to allow more birds to be exported to a secretive German charity, an independent review has found.
The investigation by KPMG was triggered after the Guardian Australia revealed that hundreds of birds, including endangered species, were exported to the Berlin-based Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) on the grounds that they would be used for a zoo exhibition.
The Guardian Australia revealed in 2018 that ACTP had no facility that was freely open to the public, and advertisements and private messages showed birds being advertised for sale for tens of thousands of euros.
KPMG’s report, which the Australian government yesterday released selectively to News Corp before making it publicly available, found that the department had issued six permits to allow the export of animals to Germany and that there was prima facie evidence to suggest the birds had been offered for sale.
The review said that the department received allegations the “true purpose of the exports was commercial” shortly after the first permits were issued.
Despite this, the department failed to adequately investigate the allegations, making only general inquiries with the German authority responsible for managing wildlife trade, the report said.
Officials continued issuing permits, despite the response from German authorities being “general in nature.”
“After the allegations were made in relation to ACTP, further inquiries should have been made prior to the issuing of export permit 3, 4, 5, and 6,” the report said.
The investigation found those inquiries were not made because of deficiencies in the department’s systems, policies and procedures, rather than individual wrongdoing.
KPMG said that it had not investigated whether any party was involved in criminal conduct, as this was outside the scope of its review.
For its investigation, KPMG reviewed 945 department documents and interviewed 27 individuals, including Australian lawmaker Warren Entsch, who was one of the first people to raise the alarm with the department.
The Guardian Australia also provided information for KPMG’s inquiry.
The review said that KPMG had received “what appears prima facie to be evidence of birds being offered for sale,” but it said this evidence had not been provided to the department previously.
The report made eight recommendations, all of which would be adopted, Australian Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said.
Entsch welcomed the KPMG review, describing it as “long overdue.”
“The good thing about it is at last they’re talking about putting some level of traceability on the movement of birds, [but I am] disappointed that no individual has been held culpable for this,” Entsch said.
“They were warned from right after the first shipment. I sat them in my office pleading with them to make checks and get some expert advice,” he said. “I’m disappointed that they haven’t held any individual responsible. I’m also disappointed that the Guardian [Australia] weren’t acknowledged for the extraordinary effort put in to exposing this case.”
Ley said that she had ordered the report to ensure adequate protections were in place to thwart “dodgy dealers and exporters” seeking to profit from trade in native species, both in Australia and overseas.
“It is important that we are setting the highest possible benchmarks in the regulation of wildlife trade,” she said. “My department will be cracking down in all areas covered by the report to ensure we have the strongest systems in place.”
She said that the growing involvement of organized crime and sophisticated international operations in the trade of wildlife, along with the soaring value of Australian wildlife on black markets, underlined the need for the “strongest possible deterrent.”
“Already in the last 12 months we have secured a number of convictions and prison sentences for wildlife trade offenses,” she said. “The message for those who break the rules is that if you are caught you will go to jail, and the steps to emerge from this work will ensure that you will be caught.”
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
‘NO INTEGRITY’: The chief judge expressed concern over how the sentence would be perceived given that military detention is believed to be easier than civilian prison A military court yesterday sentenced a New Zealand soldier to two years’ detention for attempting to spy for a foreign power. The soldier, whose name has been suppressed, admitted to attempted espionage, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose and knowingly possessing an objectionable publication. He was ordered into military detention at Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch and would be dismissed from the New Zealand Defence Force at the end of his sentence. His admission and its acceptance by the court marked the first spying conviction in New Zealand’s history. The soldier would be paid at half his previous rate until his dismissal
RSS