news, federal-politics

Parliament House officials have installed alarms and fake hawks to stop "incredibly aggressive" magpies from attacking politicians and staff. The nation's senators turned their attention to the problem on Monday while grilling Department of Parliamentary Services staff. Labor's Kimberley Kitching said several people had raised "the incidents of magpie attacks" in the building's gardens. "And what happened to the fake hawk?" she asked. One of the department's executives, Fiona Knight, confirmed the birds (a flock of which is sometimes called a "parliament", incidentally) were a "serious issue". Officials had deployed several countermeasures to ward off the warblers. "We have had a number of attacks on people by magpies here while people have been eating their lunches," Ms Knight told the Senate's finance and public administration committee. She said the fake bird of prey had been used "in different locations as one of the methods ... to scare the birds away". Another tactic building staff were using was an "audible bird sounder", which emits an ultrasonic frequency that birds dislike. "It's not just the magpies, it's also the ducks, the pigeons – they’re a nuisance." Ms Knight said a particular concern was the "number of magpies around the children's day-care centre". Senate president Scott Ryan suggested a cat might help. Magpies, ubiquitous in urban Australia, are known for their beautiful songs and for being ferociously protective of their young during early spring. The swooping season has now finished for the year, though a few of the most belligerent birds are likely to keep attacking for several weeks. Senator Kitching mused about a well-circulated theory that Parliament's "incredibly aggressive" magpies were "more aggressive than anywhere else in Australia". Liberal senator James Paterson also suggested the "Parliamentary Friends of Shooting" could resolve the problem.

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