NSW Government criminal policies ensuring koala extinction

Dire threats to koala survival in NSW are virtually guaranteeing the species extinction, all facilitated and approved by the Minns Government.

Many of the threats were created by the previous Coalition Government but voters expected the Labor Government would be pro-environment and take steps to correct the policies of extermination.

Mainstream media censorship of the impacts of industrial logging in the state’s native forests exponentially eradicating forest fauna is beyond understanding. The virtual abandonment of the Labor Party’s promised Great Koala National Park together with the massive urbanisation in southwest Sydney, eliminating the habitat of the state’s only significant disease-free koala population, joins forestry issues in the MSM closet.

At a Budget Estimates hearing held on 29 August in the NSW Parliament, responses to questions focused on the park should have ensured front-page articles. In essence, both NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe and Acting Coordinator General, Environment and Heritage Group, Department of Planning and Environment Atticus Fleming confirmed the park was not a priority, the boundaries were not established nor any harvest limits.

NSW Labor ignores environmental threats with another useless panel

NSW Premier Chris Minns’ latest effort to ensure the ongoing destruction of koala habitat is the establishment of an “Independent Forestry Panel”.

Attempting to get an answer to the essential question – when will the park be designated – Chair Sue Higginson MLC asked the Minister:

“Can I ask for an answer to the question — when? We have been told this year. There's just nothing for the community to understand when we will stop logging within the Great Koala National Park.”

Penny Sharpe responded:

“It depends, in the end, about how big — we haven't decided how big the park will be, so I can't answer that question.”

Further evidence by Fleming made clear the lack of any government urgency or priority in designating the park.

Fleming said:

You are asking a question in relation to the Great Koala National Park. It's important to emphasise that a decision hasn't been made about the boundaries of that park, nor has a decision been made about what would happen to the relevant level of harvesting effort in that area.

The other point I'd add is for the Great Koala National Park, of those two options we talked about, the only one that will be relevant is the cessation of harvesting. Once the national park is declared, then there is no harvesting permitted.

It's important to note there's no decision on the park. The decision on the park and the boundaries and what happens to the corresponding level of harvesting effort will take into account a range of factors. As the Minister indicated, there's quite a detailed process taking into account — obviously ecological factors such as koalas but also socioeconomic factors, social factors and cultural factors.

Carbon is another one of the matters that will be taken into account. All of those things will be important in the final decision.

Politicians turning Australia into wildlife graveyard

Neither major party nor the Federal Greens have ensured environmental issues are the nation’s top priority policies.

Budget Estimates hearings are lengthy and don’t attract a great readership. This is unfortunate as the hearings are an opportunity to do a reality check on ministers and public servants. And an opportunity for the MSM to expose the fraudulent promises and failures.

Throughout this hearing, Penny Sharpe distinguished herself with weasel words, taking every opportunity to shove the issue onto someone else. Public servants giving evidence have become experts at ducking and weaving any questions that deserve proper answers.

In southwest Sydney, environmental groups are battling massive urbanisation which will ensure the extinction of the only significant disease-free koala population. With government plans to create 73,000 homes for the MacArthur region, koalas stand little chance of survival.

So far, 36 koalas have been killed on Appin Road this year. Habitat trees are being bulldozed, leaving distressed, terrified koalas with no place of safety now or in the future. Rescue organisations have their hands full with badly injured koalas. Their work is heartbreaking, the community is devastated as the slaughter continues unabated and ignored by the Government.

Making the situation even worse is the lack of any safe release sites for koalas who recover from their injuries.

None of the promises made by both the Coalition and Labor governments have been acted on. One promise was to establish the Georges River Koala National Park to protect south Sydney koalas in the way of urbanisation.

At the budget hearing, Deputy Liberal Leader Natalie Ward asked Fleming:

“When will the Georges River Koala National Park be completed?”

Labor continues double-speak on forestry issues

Amid talk of managing forestry and environmental conservation, Labor governments continue the destruction of forests across Australia.

Fleming responded:

“In terms of the Georges River Koala National Park, the Government's commitment – the Government's policy – is to transfer the publicly owned land within three years. That's approximately 1,100 hectares of land. That will be transferred in stages. By June next year, you should expect to see gazettals of the first areas and by December 2026, that full 1,100 hectares, approximately, should be transferred and gazetted.”

Sounds familiar? Promises, empty promises. By December 2026, the miserable allocation of 1,100 hectares likely to save an equally miserable number of koalas will be useless. Massive urbanisation projects will be well underway or completed, habitat exponentially lost leaving a rapidly declining koala population facing extinction.

According to the Total Environment Centre, koalas in the Sydney Basin bioregion have declined an estimated 22% in the last 20 years. The Sydney Basin contains seven areas of koala significance facing multiple threats. Only five have living colonies, including Campbelltown, Wollondilly and Liverpool. These are the same areas where over 40,000 new dwellings are planned between Appin and Campbelltown as part of the Macarthur Growth region.

According to the Sydney Basin Koala Network, ‘Appin is a very important place for koalas’. Unfortunately, nearly every inch of land surrounding Appin was bought by a conglomerate of property developers who have lobbied the Government to rezone this environmentally sensitive land, using the housing crisis to exploit an area that has no water, sewage, public transport or community facilities.

On 30 June 2023, the NSW Government approved the Appin (Part) Precinct which will see 12,900 homes built by Walker Corporation in an area that currently only supports 3,000 people. The sheer numbers of people, cars and dogs will place a huge threat on the koala colony, not to mention the large amount of land clearing that will occur, leading to fragmentation of corridors creating dead ends.

Over half of recorded vehicle strikes in the Sydney Basin occur in the Campbelltown/Wollondilly area (Biolink 2023) and this development approval will see the number of cars on the road increase tenfold. This move will see our only healthy, growing koala population in Sydney face their own housing crisis with their movement severely restricted.

A YouGov study of over 1,000 metro and regional NSW residents demonstrated that 84% believe koala habitat should be more strongly protected from economic activities such as urban development, mining and logging. Also, 91% support a koala green belt for the edge of Sydney which would involve protecting native forest and bushland for koala habitat, making it off-limits to development (such as for housing, logging and mining).

According to Australian Wildlife magazine, recent research found areas in the Sydney Basin where koalas are found are declining and areas supporting long-standing breeding populations are reducing.

The recent showing of The Koalas documentary in many theatres sums up the appalling crises facing Australia’s unique icon. Mainstream media’s silence ensures the world is shielded from the brutality of Australia’s state and federal governments who are inflicting the deliberate cruelty and losses to ensure massive population growth.

There can be no excuses for these criminal policies.