The City’s Letter to the Editor to the Fremantle Herald following a previous article that neglected to include a response from the City, 8.5.24
Dear editor,
Please see the following Letter to the Editor, including the City’s response to questions editor Steve Grant forwarded to the City last Thursday 2 May, with one hour’s notice to respond before close of business.
Q1: Did the City take any action regarding the recommendations from the Turtle Trackers report from January?
Answer: The City received the report from the volunteer Turtle Trackers and it has been shared with the Save Our Snake-Necked Turtle (SOSNT) program based at Murdoch University. Its recommendations are being considered.
A formal meeting is scheduled for later this week with the volunteer Bibra Lake Turtle Trackers, SOSNT, Murdoch University and the City of Cockburn.
The annual Saving Our Snaked-necked Turtle Report for 2023 authored by Murdoch University’s Dr Anthony Santoro will be submitted to the City in coming weeks. The report’s recommendations, together with feedback from turtle tracker volunteers, will inform future conservation efforts.
Q2: Has the City done any work in regard to preparing a turtle conservation plan?
Answer: There are ongoing discussions between local government, the state government via the Department of Biodiversity Conservation Attractions and scientific experts around turtle conservation within the City and across the greater Perth region. This requires a holistic approach with all stakeholders.
The City of Cockburn has been a steadfast and leading supporter of collaborative efforts to save the region’s endemic Southwestern Snake-Necked Turtle (Chelodina oblonga) for many years.
The City supports turtle conservation through:
- Citizen science: Establishing the SOSNT program five years ago in partnership with Murdoch University
- Volunteer management: Continued support and coordination of turtle tracker volunteers to protect turtle nests as part of the SOSNT program
- Advocacy: Collaboration with other major land managers to coordinate feral animal control to increase effectiveness
- Land restoration: Enhanced the quality of terrestrial turtle habitat through ongoing weed management and revegetation. Good quality native vegetation reduces exposure to predators when turtles leave the lake to nest
- Research: Commissioning turtle population surveys at wetlands located in the City
- Grants: Making funding available to residents in rural zones for land restoration and feral animal control as part of the Landowner Biodiversity Conservation Program.
Q3: Could the City do more in terms of collecting data and researching the snake-necked turtle population?
Answer: The City is committed to the SOSNT partnership, which provides data and research on turtle conservation. The City has commissioned turtle population surveys for 11 wetlands in Cockburn. Originally planned for autumn, these surveys will now commence in spring due to the current lack of rainfall and resultant low water levels.
The City is disappointed by editor Steve Grant’s decision to print the resultant article after providing the City with an hour to respond before close of business.
In a phone call, Mr Grant said he had received scathing criticism of the City but refused to delay his article, regardless of whether the City had enough time to respond. This is both unprofessional in terms of reporting fair and balanced news, and misleads readers.
The City’s small but dedicated Sustainability and Environment team works in the field and is not always contactable or available to respond immediately. As with all levels of government, media responses must also be approved by an executive and/or elected officials, in our case the Chief Executive Officer and Mayor. There would clearly not be enough time to achieve either within the hour, or even until the final 7pm deadline, with staff members unavailable in that short, last-minute timeframe.
This resulted in unbalanced coverage of an important local issue in the 3 May edition. This is not only unfair treatment of the City, but of your readers who have the right to read articles that are balanced, fair, accurate and properly researched.
We notice the article also neglected to include responses from the Save Our Snake-Necked Turtles program at Murdoch University or the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, despite the article levelling criticism at those bodies.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Simms,
Chief Executive Officer
City of Cockburn