THE Invasive Species Council have called on all political parties to commit to increase funding to reduce the impact of feral and roaming pet cats on Australia’s wildlife ahead of the upcoming federal election.

The call follows the release last week by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek of the details of 55 federally funded feral cat projects across the country.

“The environmental toll from feral and roaming pet cats cannot be understated,” Invasive Species Council advocacy director Jack Gough said.

“By this time tomorrow, over five million native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs will have been killed by the millions of feral and roaming pet cats in Australia.

“Cats have driven over 25 of our native species to extinction and without serious action we could lose iconic native wildlife like bilbies, numbats, and night parrots forever.

“That is why we are calling on all parties to commit to increased funding, focus and reform that matches the seriousness of this threat to our wildlife.

“Environment Minister Plibersek has shown important leadership by bringing states and territories together to focus on this critical issue and we look forward to an ambitious national cat plan being adopted soon.

Mr Gough said an additional future commitment of at least $60 million over the next four years would be needed if the plan is to be properly implemented.

“It is great to see funding that has already been announced is now hitting the ground across the country for high quality projects like island eradications, research into new control techniques and protection of threatened native birds.

“Given the seriousness of this threat to our wildlife, we will be looking for all parties to step up with additional funding for action on cats in the lead up to the federal election.

“We also need all state and territory governments to declare feral cats to be pests, support all appropriate control tools and develop their own feral cat plans.

“We have an archaic situation in Western Australia where local governments cannot implement basic cat curfew laws for pet cats due to outdated state laws. This is despite the onus for managing cats in urban areas falling on local governments,” Mr Gough said.