Aust Day hero and wildlife rescuer opposes $25m RSPCA animal hospital in Redland
A Queensland Australia Day Local Hero nominee has slammed a $25 million RSPCA wildlife hospital as a waste of money and is calling for resources to be redirected elsewhere. | POLL
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Queensland’s Australian of the Year Local Hero has slammed as a “white elephant” a $25 million new RSPCA wildlife hospital proposed for Redlands.
Claire Smith, who this week travelled to Canberra for the National Australian of the Year ceremony, said the RSPCA’s planned Wildlife Hospital at Capalaba was “an absolute waste of money”.
She made her statement after meeting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra during the weekend’s celebrations, after Premier David Crisafulli presented her award in November for starting the state’s first volunteer-run, 24-hour wildlife rescue service.
“The RSPCA doesn’t have the funds to keep its existing hospital running 24-hours-a-day for patient intake,” she said.
“The latest that wildlife can be taken there is 4.30pm and they don’t have the staff or resources to do what they set out to do so why is $20 million being pumped into a facility that isn’t needed?
“Where is the money going to come from to run it — we already have Australia Zoo, Currumbin and RSPCA Wacol.
“It’s ridiculous when there’s the rest of Queensland that has nothing.
“With the RSPCA now cutting its resources to wildlife intake, how the hell is Redlands going to operate?
“The ex-RSPCA CEO Darren Maier resigned and whether RSPCA QLD ever recovers from his tenure is debatable.
“It’s a prime example of not employing the right person for the job.
“We need to be addressing the root cause of why so many animals are coming into care.
“All the time we are putting bandaids on this situation and pouring money into ‘white elephant’ projects such as the Redland Wildlife Hospital, we are stepping ever nearer to the extinction of iconic species like the koala.
“If there’s nowhere to release the animals that have been patched up, that should be an alarm call for all of us.”
Ms Smith, who grew up caring for animals in the UK, was a nominee for the National Awards and attended many Australian of the Year events in Canberra on the weekend.
RSPCA Queensland lodged its development application and plans with Redland City Council late last year.
RSPCA said the project would be a state-of-the-art Wildlife Hospital and Centre of Excellence, to support the growing demand for wildlife rescue and care across the entire southeast.
Plans submitted to the council show the RSPCA hoped the facility would be completed early next year and would rise as a leading medical, rehabilitation, and educational venue to “future-proof” wildlife care in the southeast.
The project has 1 hectare of council land which is already cleared and is located next to Redland’s popular IndigiScapes.
Under its Together for Wildlife campaign, the RSPCA hopes to raise much of the $25 million target with almost $20 million already committed.
The project has also received $5 million in grant funding from the Australian government under the Saving Koalas Fund with the state committing $12m.
Philanthropic supporters have stumped up $1m and an extra $2m has been pledged from other donors.
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Originally published as Aust Day hero and wildlife rescuer opposes $25m RSPCA animal hospital in Redland
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