In parliament, Mr Baumann asked the Minister for Environment, Carmel Tebbutt what management plans, if any, the government would adopt to protect Corrie Island following its exclusion from the Lower Hunter Conservation Plan.

Aside from offering a definitive timetable Ms Tebbutt said a “plan of management will be prepared”.

“This is just another appalling chapter in the State Labor Government’s refusal to address the concerns about the Myall River,” Mr Baumann said.

In her response to parliament, Ms Tebbutt said the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) has coordinated shorebird surveys reporting 25 per cent use Corrie Island.

“Port Stephens also supports an internationally significant number of Eastern Curlews, many of which are regular visitors to the island. The surveys have identified five threatened shorebird species on Corrie Island,” and one “endangered ecological community, Coastal Saltmarsh,” Ms Tebbutt said.

A decade after its listing on the RAMSAR Convention List Wetlands of International Importance, the island’s native bird population has come under threat by feral pets.

Ferry operators, including Ray Horsfield have reported seeing dingoes on Corrie as recent as a fortnight ago.

“Local residents have been extremely concerned build up of sediment at the mouth of the Myall River is allowing feral animals to cross the channel and access the island, which, by the Minister’s own admission, is home to several endangered species of flora and fauna,” Mr Baumann said.

“It is unacceptable that 10 years have passed since Corrie Island was listed on the RAMSAR Convention, and still the State Labor Government has no management plan for the Island.”

In Parliament Mr Baumann moved a Notice of Motion calling on the NSW Labor Government for action.

“I condemn the NSW Labor Government for failing to formulate a conservation management plan for Corrie Island in the past ten years,” Mr Baumann told Parliament.

“I call on the NSW Labor Government to address this environmental problem as a matter of urgency.”