Senator McLUCAS (Queensland) (18:37): I would like to take note of item No. 94, which is the Wet Tropics Management Authority and State of the Wet Tropics reports for 2012-13. In doing so, I want to particularly pay tribute to Associate Professor Peter Valentine for the work that he has done as chair of our board for many years. As for Professor Valentine, I will quote the report: Peter has a profound knowledge of World Heritage management and policy including a particular knowledge of the wet Tropics of Queensland. The directors and staff of the authority are grateful for the leadership and support that Peter demonstrated during his term of appointment. In saying that, I personally want to thank Peter for his leadership during some difficult times. Frankly, I would have liked to see him continue. He is an inclusive chairperson. He makes sure all people who have an interest in the Wet Tropics World Heritage area are consulted and included in the deliberations of the board and he has been a great leader for our region. One of the significant things that happened during this reporting year was the listing on 9 November 2012 of the Wet Tropics World Heritage area with UNESCO again, for its Indigenous values. I quote the report again: On 9 November 2012, the Australian government announced the inclusion of the national Indigenous heritage values as part of the existing national heritage listing for the Wet Tropics World Heritage area. The Aboriginal rainforest people of the wet tropics of Queensland have lived continuously in the rainforest environment for at least 5,000 years and this is the only place in Australia where Aboriginal people have permanently inhabited the tropical rainforest environment. This took a great amount of leadership to be able to deliver this outcome ensuring that the Bama, which is the Aboriginal word for people, were consulted and included in this final listing. It is very much appreciated by Aboriginal people and now their engagement in management into the future is assured. Also in the report it talks about the fact that on 2 November 2012 there was a field trip of the board to Edmonton, which is south of Cairns, to inspect a yellow crazy ant infestation inside the World Heritage area. This has been a real problem for us in the north. The incursions of these pests, yellow crazy ants, is a real danger to the ongoing strength of the wet tropics but is also a problem for our cane farmers. That is why I was really pleased that before the government changed we were able to announce that we were allocating almost $2 million to the Wet Tropics Management Authority to do the work of eradication of these yellow crazy ants. They are in a very small part of the Edmonton area. It is the view of local people, including cane farmers, that they are eminently eradicable. I was contacted by a very passionate man, Mr Frank Teodo, who invited me to come out to his property, which I did. He is a very generous man. He wrote me an impassioned letter. He says: I don't consider myself a "greeny" Jan, but I love the bush as much as anybody. He goes on to say: There is over a square mile of country here, where we haven't got a frog or a lizard, the green ants and all the other native ants are all gone… The State Government cut the funding to Biosecurity Qld last year… We've been trying to get the State Gov. to understand that they've made a mistake. The State Gov. has made a mistake. The Wet Tropics Management Authority has applied for Federal funding and we hope to have had some good news in July. The WTMA has been fantastic in in their efforts to eradicate the YCA. Frank Teodo is a passionate advocate for his country, but also he is a farmer. He wants to grow cane and turn money off it. We are finding we cannot even grow cane where we have yellow crazy ant infestation. That is why this almost $2 million will be fantastic as they are able to do the work that is required to eradicate yellow crazy ants. I am disappointed that the Queensland government are not picking up their part of the load to be able to do the work that they should do in cooperation with the federal government to eradicate this pest.