THE KOALA, HONOURED AND PROTECTED BY THE STATE. 

State and Federal laws that prohibit DEVELOPMENTS, CONSTRUCTION and DEFORESTATION. 

Simple...

Queensland koalas have been translocated under the guise of "scientific purposes" without any evidence of resultant scientific studies. Sue Arnold reports.

THERE ARE OMINOUS signs that the Queensland Government may soon adopt translocation of any koala colony as policy, to ensure developers are not hampered by any necessity to protect habitat.

The Queensland Government’s approval of a major translocation of koalas from Coomera to distant conservation areas is regarded as the largest translocation project undertaken in Queensland and New South Wales. 

As the purpose of the project was to facilitate the development of the Coomera Town Centre located in 900 ha of prime koala habitat, the translocation contradicted any suggestion that “scientific purposes” was the raison d’etre.

Nevertheless, scientific permits were issued by the Government to allow the project to proceed.

As virtually all relevant documents giving approval to the translocation are unavailable on the public record, Right to Information (RTI) requests are the only way to dig into the closet of this “transparent” Government.

Read more:

https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/the-big-koala-extinct...

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A government-owned logging company is conducting a controversial experiment expected to kill native animals that are already heading toward extinction, the ABC can reveal.

• VicForests logging and burning forest where threatened species lives — for research
• The government-owned company knows the experiment is likely to kill greater gliders 
• Expert compares project to Japan's scientific whaling

VicForests is owned by the Victorian Government and logs native forests for profit under exemptions to federal environment law.

It is now logging parts of East Gippsland forest at different intensities to measure survival rates of the threatened greater gliders that call it home.

VicForests argued the research would assist the conservation of the species, but acknowledged it was likely to kill some of them.

In an email seen by the ABC that addressed similar logging nearby, VicForests' staff acknowledged deaths were likely.

"It is unfortunate that some individuals have to die in the process, but we really need to look at the big picture here," a VicForests ecologist wrote.

And when asked if gliders that survived the initial logging would die when VicForests burnt the leftover wood, the company's manager of biodiversity conservation Tim McBride said: "Yep, that's a very likely outcome."

Read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-29/vicforests-says-experiment-very-li...

Any humans out there with a brain rather than a chainsaw?... Ah, I know... They've transplanted human intelligence in mice...

Greater gliders are known as the "clumsy possum".

Conservationists have said the oil company Santos has not addressed questions about how its proposed 850-well Narrabri coal seam gas project in New South Wales would affect threatened species.

Two new reports, including one by a former ecologist for the NSW environment and heritage office, say the company had not adequately responded to submissions which raise concerns about animal and plant surveys Santos conducted for its environmental impact statement.

Santos’s formal reply to more than 20,000 public submissions was criticised by opponents when it was released earlier this year.

David Paull, a consultant ecologist who was employed by the NSW government, wrote a response disputing Santos’s findings that endangered box gum woodlands were not present at the project site and that yellow box was either absent or “occurs at such low abundance to be meaningless in terms of plant composition”.

Paull said the company had also failed to conduct surveys for stygofauna, which are species that help purify groundwater, despite a recommendation from the independent expert scientific committee that it do so.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/29/santos-response-on-e...

Homo sapiens = rapists of the planet...

Habitat for the critically endangered swift parrot is being “knowingly destroyed” by logging because of government failures to manage the species’ survival, according to research.

Matthew Webb and Dejan Stojanovic, two of the Eureka prize finalists from the Australian National University’s difficult bird research group, say governments have stalled on management plans that would protect known feeding and nesting habitat in Tasmania.

The researchers analysed logging in Tasmania’s southern forests during the 20-year course of the previous regional forest agreement.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/26/logging-destroying-s...

See also:

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/8123

sunk so low .....

Wildlife watchers are in a flap after one of Australia's rarest species of bird, the regent honeyeater, was spotted three times in Queensland in recent weeks.

Urban development and drought have destroyed the habitat of the critically-endangered bird and its population is believed to be as low as 400 in the wild across Australia.

The bird is extinct in South Australia and western Victoria, but is found in woodlands west of the Great Dividing Range.

The three sightings near the Queensland coast have the Australian birdwatching community excited, but also concerned.

Read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-08/rare-regent-honeyeater-spotted-in-...

Special tunnels, bridges and fencing are failing to save New South Wales' dwindling koala population from speeding traffic, the state's "road kill" files reveal.

• The files were obtained by the ABC under freedom of information laws
• They reveal dozens of koalas have been killed on the Pacific Highway in the past five years
• Koala populations are dwindling on the NSW north coast, and are listed as "locally endangered" in several locations there

One tragic incident recorded on video shows an injured koala trapped in supposedly wildlife-proofed tunnel, unable to crawl to safety as traffic roars past.

As tunnel operators try to organise a rescue, a semi-trailer driver ignores flashing warning signs and crosses into the closed lane, killing the koala. 

The video is part of the State Government's "road kill" files and was obtained under freedom of information laws from NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS).

The files show where koalas are being killed around NSW, and includes five years of incident reports from the Pacific Highway, where 68 koala deaths were recorded.

The video, from 2017, was recorded in the St Helena tunnel, near Byron Bay on the state's north coast, where koalas are listed as "locally endangered".

An incident report about the rescue operation tells how an RMS tunnel operator spotted "something flapping" on a surveillance camera. 

After zooming in, the operator focuses on the injured koala.

According to the report, the operator activated LED signs commanding drivers to stay in the left lane, and then made urgent calls for wildlife rescue volunteers to attend.

Read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-13/nsw-government-road-kill-files-rev...

The rate of land clearing in northern NSW more than tripled after the Berejiklian government eased native vegetation protection in 2017 to the rate of about 14 football fields of koala habitat per day, a new report has found.

The report, compiled by WWF and the Nature Conservation Council using satellite imagery, was released on Friday to coincide with National Threatened Species Day.

The 22,000 square-km region studied, west of Moree, had been a focus of intensive land clearing – legal and illegal – even prior to last year's repeal of the Native Vegetation Act, Wendy Hawes, an ecologist, said.

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/revved-up-land-being-cle...

People are being encouraged to 'adopt' a koala this Christmas amid ongoing concerns about their severely declining numbers. 

The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital on the mid-north coast of New South Wales is the only facility in the world dedicated to the care of wild koalas.

The hospital rescues, rehabilitates and, where possible, releases koalas back into their home territory.

The not-for-profit organisation costs about $650,000 per year to run and receives more than 100,000 visitors a year.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-22/christmas-callout-to-adopt-a-koala/

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See also:

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/29332

Across NSW koala numbers are dwindling, their disappearance partly blamed on land clearing.

Their survival will be an issue for some NSW voters on Saturday, with land clearing sparking a number of questions from ABC readers. 

• The ABC received 85 questions on land clearing as part of the "You Ask, We Answer" campaign
• Land clearing laws have been relaxed under NSW's Coalition Government
• Labor says it will bring land clearing "under control" while the Liberals have a $45 million blueprint to protect koalas

It is reflected by internal Labor and Coalition polling placing the environment in the top five issues for voters for the first time in a state election. 

Of the more than 2,000 questions submitted to the ABC's "You Ask, We Answer" series, almost 300 concerned environmental issues, with 85 specifically focused on land clearing.

It is an issue people are talking about ahead of Saturday's poll.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-21/nsw-election-questions-reveal-con...

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Today the Australian Koala Foundation announced they believe “there are no more than 80,000 koalas in Australia”, making the species “functionally extinct”.

While this number is dramatically lower than the most recent academic estimates, there’s no doubt koala numbers in many places are in steep decline.

It’s hard to say exactly how many koalas are still remaining in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, but they are highly vulnerable to threats including deforestation, disease and the effects of climate change. 

Once a koala population falls below a critical point it can no longer produce the next generation, leading to extinction.

The term “functionally extinct” can describe a few perilous situations. In one case, it can refer to a species whose population has declined to the point where it can no longer play a significant role in their ecosystem. For example, it has been used to describe dingoes in places where they have become so reduced they have a negligible influence on the species they prey on. 

Dingoes are top predators, and therefore can play a significant role in some ecosystems. Our innocuous, leaf-eating koala cannot be considered a top predator.

For millions of years koalas have been a key part of the health of our eucalyptus forests by eating upper leaves, and on the forest floor, their droppings contribute to important nutrient recycling. Their known fossil records date back approximately 30 million years so they may have once been a food source for megafauna carnivores.

Read more:

https://theconversation.com/a-report-claims-koalas-are-functionally-exti...

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See also: http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/29332

A mystery virus is causing one of the country's most unique animals to go blind.

• Lumholtz's tree kangaroos normally live in the rainforest canopy
• In recent years they have been found disoriented in schools and on roads
• One theory is the leaves they eat are increasing in toxicity due to weather changes

Lumholtz's tree kangaroos are only found in a small pocket of rainforest in far north Queensland — and most Australians do not even know they exist.

Now, the creatures — which normally nestle high up in the treetops — are being found in odd places on the Atherton Tablelands, west of Cairns, including in schools, sheds and in the middle of roads, unable to see and confused.

A researcher has said the loss of the kangaroos' vision was likely caused by a virus potentially caused by changing climatic conditions.

...

Karen Coombes has been caring for injured tree kangaroos on her property near Malanda, west of Cairns, for two decades.

She studied the species for her PhD and founded the Tree Roo Rescue and Conservation Centre.

Most of the animals in her care are blind.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-17/lumholtzs-tree-kangaroo-blindness...

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Lynelle Urquhart's home on a property west of Moonie in outback Queensland is normally quiet, but she has been having trouble sleeping lately, thanks to late-night activity under the floorboards.

"I had to have a sleeping tablet last week, because of all the scratching around through the night," she said.

"Our house is pretty close to the ground, and echidna quills scrape on the floorboards, and when that's under your bed at night it can keep you awake."

It is mating season, and several echidnas have found the perfect love nest underneath the farmhouse.

"I've never met anyone who had to have a sleeping tablet because echidnas were having sex under the house!" Ms Urquhart said.

She said she has counted six echidnas walking around her garden, often oblivious to her.

"In all my time here I've never ever seen this many echidnas at our home," Ms Urquhart said.

"They'd walk in between my legs, and as long as I didn't make a noise they didn't see me as a threat. 

"They probably hang around here because there's a little bit of water left, and the soil is soft enough for them to dig after we've watered a tree. And digging is what echidnas love to do."

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-01/echidna-sex-keeps-farmers-up-all-...

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The hedgehog mating ritual is protracted, with the sounds often indistinguishable from human ones. Their most active period is between April and early September.

German police are being called out increasingly often over night-time disturbances, only to discover the noisy offenders are mating hedgehogs, reports The Guardian.

Dozens of noise complaints have been received by emergency services across the country with residents initially grumbling over neighbours having unacceptably loud sex or concerned that some animal might be in pain or suffering. The loud and irritating sounds, however, are often the result of the prickly intruders having sex.

In a sign of how widespread the issue is, Germany now even has a hashtag, #igelsex, which translates as “hedgehog sex”.

Police  arrived at a primary school in Augsburg, outside Munich, to check out odd sounds from a playground and found a pair of mating hedgehogs, while in an incident in Kamenz near Dresden, a fire brigade resorted to a hydraulic spreader to open a charity clothes collection bin that was resonating with loud noises that were reported by concerned residents. The culprits turned out to be mating hedgehogs.

The protracted hedgehog mating ritual, known in German as Igelkarussell, or hedgehog carrousel, can last for hours over a 430 square-foot area. The range of sounds the prickly and innocuous-looking animals make includes hissing, snarling and even screaming.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201908061076478062-sonic-boom-germans-los...

Note: Equidnas are not hedgehogs, but monotremes or egg laying mammals... Hedgehogs and equidnas have sharp spines covering their bodies.

Poor water management of the Murray-Darling Basin combined with a lack of water is to blame for an alarming decrease in platypus numbers in that area, researchers say.

• Scientists at the University of New South Wales have been researching platypus numbers for four years
• They believe the animal's numbers may have declined by half since Europeans arrived
• Research points to poor water management in the Murray-Darling Basin as contributing to the problem
  

Declines in Australia's platypus population have likely been underestimated, and may have halved since Europeans arrived, University of NSW scientists say.

Professor Richard Kingsford and his team from UNSW have been studying the platypus for the past four years. 

"The figures are essentially telling us that there's been this huge decline in platypus numbers over the last 100 to 200 years and we're not really dealing with that," Professor Kingsford says.

The animal has disappeared from large areas, including the Murray-Darling Basin — with no official observations in the last 10 years in half of the catchments of the basin.

The data is concerning for the platypus, with current population estimates ranging from 30,000 to 300,000, report author and PhD candidate Tahneal Hawke said.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-08/platypus-research-indicates-huge-...

Estimates with a error factor of 1000/100 are bloody useless...

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The Federal Environment Department approved the clearing of more than 75 hectares of critical koala habitat west of Brisbane in breach of its own policy.

• Department of Environment approved clearing of 75 hectares of koala habitat near Ipswich
• Documents obtained under FoI show the approval was granted against the department's own policy
• The department said it granted approval to "maintain consistency" with other projects already approved

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) reveal two housing developments in the Ipswich area "lacked consistency" with the Environment Department's own policy on environmental offsets.

Nonetheless, the department approved the land clearing in January 2018 "in order to maintain consistency in decision making" with other projects that had already been given the green light.

"That's not good enough," the ACF's Andrew Picone told 7.30.

"The koala is listed as a vulnerable species, it faces a very real risk of extinction.

"If we continue to allow the destruction of its habitat and not even apply the bare minimum of the offset policy requirements, it's likely to go extinct much sooner than people predict."

Environmental scientist Dr Philip Gibbons, from the Australian National University, thinks the department is not doing its job.

"This is a concern because it tells us our own Department of the Environment either doesn't have the desire or it doesn't have the power to protect threatened species such as the koala," he told 7.30.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-13/koala-habitat-cleared-against-dep...

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Conservationists say a New South Wales Government strategy to boost koala numbers in the state isn't working, because important habitats are still at risk of being destroyed.

But a report card prepared for the New South Wales Environment Minister insists progress is being made, with an extra 7,000 hectares of koala habitat now protected.

The goal of the state's koala strategy is to stabilise and then increase the numbers of the marsupial in New South Wales.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/conservationists-say-ns...

A former pest management expert for the Victorian government has spoken out against a “confusing” legal loophole that has left wombats unprotected in some parts of the state.

Nocturnal Wildlife Research director Clive Marks’ comments come amid widespread outrage over revelations first reported in The New Daily that wealthy tourists were being invited to a farm outside Melbourne to hunt the marsupials for sport.

The Murrindindi farm is owned by a Chinese businessman and partner of Crown casino at the centre of an explosive Channel Nine investigation into links between casinos and organised crime.

Dr Marks spent more than 10 years investigating methods of killing wombats and other pest animals for the Victorian government.

Now an independent researcher, he says he can “speak freely” about the inner workings of government that have led to a “confusing” legal loophole that means wombats have no protection in 193 regions (parishes) in Victoria.

“The legislation was an administrative quick fix – it was a real nightmare,” Dr Marks told The New Daily.

He said the Victorian government initially declared wombats vermin because they could charge through rabbit-proof fences at a time when “rabbit plagues were serious all over Australia”.

Read more:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/vic/2019/08/27/confusing-wombat-pr...

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A singed and injured koala and her joey, who have become a symbol of hope and resilience amid Queensland's bushfire emergency, are slowly recovering in a Brisbane wildlife hospital.

• The photo of the koala and joey went viral when they were found by a police officer on Saturday
• The pair are recovering in the Queensland Wildlife Hospital, among many other animals being looked after
• Animals including horses are also being treated at the Canungra showgrounds for burns

The koala was rescued by Jimboomba police officer Darren Ward in the Gold Coast hinterland over the weekend.

Acting Senior Sergeant Ward found the koala and her joey in shock, clinging to a branch on the ground.

"There was singeing to the fur, and singeing to the ears … but the baby seemed quite well protected," he said.

The RSPCA's Michael Beatty said the pair was being treated in the Queensland Wildlife Hospital.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-09/gold-coast-hinterland-bushfire-ko...

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And for every single koala saved, a great number of them have perished...

Hundreds of koalas are feared to have died in an out-of-control bushfire in northern New South Wales which has raged unchecked for days in the heartland of their prime habitat.

The blaze, reportedly caused by a lightning strike near Port Macquarie, has burned more than 2,000 hectares, including an important koala breeding ground.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/30/hundreds-of-koala...

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Koalas – along with Australia’s environment – are in dire straits, governed by politicians whose ignorance is literally costing the Earth.

The sun is blood red. Smoke fills the air like a heavy impenetrable fog covering trees with thick curtains of burned vegetation nanoparticles.

In the forests, the big trees are dying, their leaves curling up in a last gasp for water before they drop on the bone dry earth, creating a catastrophic loss of food and shelter for dependent animals. More fuel for more bushfires.

The sheer extent of the fires and their horrific intensity are the last straw for the koala populations in New South Wales, where well over 1,650,000 hectares have burnt with 75 fires still raging.

Key koala habitats have been lost. Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree, Kempsey, Wardell, Clarence Valley, Lismore, Byron Bay have all suffered catastrophic bushfires together with Far North Coast forests — the heartlands of koalas.

Mainstream media has focused on an estimated 350 koalas lost to the fires in Port Macquarie. Yet the death toll is far more widespread and almost certainly spells widespread extinction for the koala, with few remaining healthy colonies surviving.

No mention has been made by any politicians that prior to the bushfires, forests were dying as a result of drought. Wildlife carers report that months before the fires broke out, koalas were coming into care dehydrated and suffering from malnutrition.

Carers at Koalas In Care Inc in Taree say koalas were already depleted as a result of no food and no water well before the inferno. Koalas rescued from the fires arriving at the shelter are very stressed.

Read more:

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/fires-last-st...

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SYDNEY – An obsessive-compulsive dog who was abandoned as a puppy has a new mission: helping find and save koalas injured in Australia’s recent devastating bushfires.

Bear, a Cattle Dog cross-breed, is trained to find both koalas and quolls, another small Australian marsupial, in the wild.

“This is the first year that we have been involved in the fires,” Romane Cristescu, his minder and ecologist at The University of the Sunshine Coast, told Reuters. “It is a bit more dangerous than what we usually do.”

Bear, who usually looks for sick or injured wildlife for conservation and research purposes in calmer conditions, has been wearing protective socks on his paws to search through areas scorched by fire.

Bushfires have ravaged around 2.5 million acres of farmland and bush across Australia’s east coast in recent weeks, killing four people and destroying hundreds of homes.

Read more:

https://nypost.com/2019/11/20/this-good-boy-helps-find-koalas-injured-in...

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Koala population at 'tipping point' after Australian bushfire crisis, donations soar amid outpouring of overseas support

By Jessica van Vonderen and Rebeka Powell

As the nation suffered through an unprecedented number of bushfires this month, the plight of the koala has been front-page news abroad leading to an outpouring of public support.

Images of the furry creatures with charred skin, blackened paws and clear symptoms of dehydration have dominated much of the recent overseas coverage, becoming a cultural symbol of the crisis.

One viral video showed a woman in just her underwear running through burning bushland to save a koala.

The shocking imagery has led to several foreign reports that koalas are "functionally extinct" as a result of the bushfires.

However, the marsupials have been under threat for much longer.

Research has shown koalas are on track to be extinct by 2050 in New South Wales if land clearing rates continue.

But with a changing climate and early start to an extreme bushfire season, will they even make it that long? One of Australia's leading wildlife organisations says they won't.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-26/koala-population-at-tipping-point...

The major problem is the STUPID governments (FEDERAL AND STATES) allowing land clearing in sensitive areas... No trees, no koalas... Idiots! And they believe that having no trees, there won't be any bushfires... Imbeciles! Meanwhile they do NOTHING to prevent global warming, often leaving it to us to place some solar panels on our roofs and offering "thoughts and prayers"... Morons! 

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Australia’s environment minister has said up to 30% of koalas on the New South Wales mid-north coast may have been killed in the country’s ongoing bushfire crisis.

Nationally, more than 5m hectares have been burned in an unprecedented bushfire season that has also killed nine people. Some 3.4m hectares have been burnt in NSW alone.

The state’s mid-north coast is home to a significant number of Australia’s koalas, with an estimated population between 15,000 to 28,000.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/27/australias-enviro...

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This is highly inaccurate accounting. It's possible that more than 50 per cent of the koala population has been decimated by the bushfires. and based on the lower estimated figure of 15,000, this would leave about 7,500 animals alive. And the dangers have not passed. A new heat wave is coming. 

Ecologists have grave concerns for the future of unique and endangered wildlife on Kangaroo Island where bushfires have killed thousands of koalas.

Fires on the island, in South Australia, have so far burned through 155,000 hectares – about one third of the island’s entire area – with blazes concentrated in the biodiversity-rich western areas.

Concerns are greatest for the unique and endangered mouse-like marsupial the Kangaroo Island dunnart, and the glossy black-cockatoo, which have both seen extensive areas of critical habitat burned.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/07/kangaroo-island-b...

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Victoria's Environment Minister has described the deaths of at least 40 koalas at a blue gum plantation in the state's south-west as "a crime", vowing to bring to account those responsible.

• Premier Daniel Andrews called the deaths a "terrible outcome" and promised a thorough investigation
• A company that harvested blue gum on the property said the koalas were in good health when it left
• Vets from a specialist koala hospital in New South Wales have headed to Victoria to help treat injured animals

Lily D'Ambrosio said she was "angry" about the deaths, adding that she expected many more than 40 animals to die as a result of the incident.

WARNING: This story contains graphic images.

"What I'm … deadly serious about is bringing to account every single person who is responsible for this devastation," she said.

"It is a crime, it is cruel. And it should not be allowed to be gotten away with."

Officers from the Department of Environment (DOE) were at the timber plantation near Cape Bridgewater this morning.

Portland woman Helen Oakley first raised the alarm with authorities on Wednesday after hiking into the area and finding about 10 dead koalas.

Dozens more koalas were found trapped in two isolated stretches of gum trees on the property.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-03/koala-deaths-at-blue-gum-plantati...

Whoever "owns" this land should be stripped of it. This is a crime against Australia.

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Timber harvesting in a Victorian koala habitat has resulted in a massacre, with a call for an investigation into the slaughter, writes Sue Arnold.

THE MASSACRE of koalas at Cape Bridgewater in Portland, southwest Victoria, has created a national and international outcry.   

Stomach-churning vision of injured, dying and dead koalas, some with joeys in huge piles of bulldozed blue gums is a manifestation of the hell realms. Yet this appalling disaster is by no means unusual.

Blue gum plantations in Victoria and in South Australia’s Kangaroo Island are home to thousands of koalas.

Kangaroo Island plantations had 23,000 koalas resident before the disastrous bushfires.

The Victorian Government is unable to provide any information on how many koalas are estimated in 170,000 hectares of blue gum plantations in the Green Triangle.

No data is available on the number of koalas that have been killed in harvesting operations in spite of freedom of information requests by Australians for Animals Inc.

In 2013, the 7.30 Report highlighted a shocking story on the fate of koalas living in harvested plantations. Alternative refuges were sought for koalas as the population continued to be driven out of its natural habitat.

One eyewitness reported:

Broken limbs, impact wounds, broken backs, severed arm. Dead mothers with joeys that are still alive, trying to survive. I had one 500 gram joey, about this big (demonstrates size with hands) that had two healed broken arms. And so we can only assume from that that the mother had been dropped previous to this incident and she had no obvious breaks, but her intestines were just pulp.

Carers have reported that koalas have been burned alive and that some living koalas have gone through the chippers but no one is willing to stand up and be counted. According to several carers who have spoken to IA, the corpses of koalas are quickly buried and no reports are filed confirming mortality.  There’s a great deal of fear as carers and anyone involved at the periphery of the harvesting know that the Government will ignore complaints.

In 2017, the Government produced new legislative requirements to provide authorisation to plantations to “disturb koalas” in accordance with Section 28A (1A) of the Wildlife Act and implemented a Koala Management Plan approved by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).

The language of this authorisation can hardly be interpreted to cover the appalling slaughter of defenceless koalas.

The massacre at Cape Bridgewater demonstrated that no matter how loudly the Victorian Government claimed concerns with the South West Fibre Company who owned the plantation, declaring it had ensured 72 healthy koalas had survived, a land owner was able to destroy remaining blue gums as the land was cleared, brutally injuring and killing koalas.

Neither the Wildlife Act nor the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act provide sufficient protection for koalas. The reality is that the gross mismanagement of Victoria’s koala population by a government which has managed to escape a major investigation of its appalling koala management practices continues on.

Anthony Amis, Friends of the Earth spokesperson on blue gum plantations, is scathing in his criticism of the Government.

We had a similar thing happen in 2013 and 2015. Everything the Government has tried has been a dismal failure. Translocation, sterilisation, hormonal implant, spotters — nothing works.

In Victoria, we have two koala populations. A critically important genetically diverse population in the Strezlecki and a translocated population originating from French and Phillip Islands.  

All the problems are with the translocated animals. Their habitat is disappearing so the plantations are favoured by these koalas. I think they develop a taste for blue gum. When you log the trees, they are going to either starve or die.

The Victorian Government needs to be held to account.

Friends of the Earth says a Royal Commission into the Victorian Government’s mismanagement of koalas is long overdue.

As if the situation with blue gum plantations isn’t bad enough, Victoria’s wildlife is starving as a result of the bushfire infernos. More than 1.5 million hectares were burned but the Government continues to resist allowing rescue teams and vets to go into known wildlife areas.

The Australian Veterinary Association pleaded with the Government to airdrop food into inaccessible, bushfire-affected land to save starving wildlife.

On 21 January, the Government claimed to have hired private aircraft to drop “macropod pellets” for common species such as kangaroos and wallabies as well as the endangered brush-tailed rock wallaby. But Wildlife Victoria claimed it would be very difficult to deliver macropod pellets from the air. 

Local carers have had major problems attempting to feed wildlife as the Government continues to refuse access. Many carers have been contacted by IA but all say they can’t be identified as they’re fearful of repercussions by the Government

Recent reports by Yahoo News Australia indicate a New Zealand vet who flew to Australia to help treat wildlife was prevented from entering fire-affected areas.

According to the report, veterinarian Dr Rebecca Penman is just ‘one of a growing list of wildlife carers who have expressed frustration, alleging that the Victorian Government has blocked their access to burnt-out forests’.

Dr Penman said:

“They’re saying we don’t need any volunteers, we don’t need anyone helping. But there’s plenty of wildlife out there, the government is just pushing back.”

Victoria’s blue gum plantation massacres are an international scandal. An investigation into the ownership and profits balanced against the colossal environmental damage is long overdue.

As further evidence of chaotic mismanagement, a week ago, the Victorian Government stopped the commercial kangaroo harvest because of the ‘roo toll in fire-affected areas. One week later, the ban was overturned and the harvest allowed to resume.

By far, the most serious issue arising from the Victorian koala mismanagement is that the lack of population information ensures Victorian koalas are unlikely to be listed under the provisions of the EPBC Act.

Currently, only NSW, Queensland and A.C.T. populations are listed as “vulnerable” under the Act. Any upgrading of koalas in these states – where an upgrading to “endangered” is desperately needed as a result of the bushfires and ongoing drought – will not happen as the Federal Government continues to claim there are plenty of koalas in Victoria and South Australia, thus ensuring survival of the species is secure and therefore no requirement to upgrade in NSW and Queensland.

In other words, the Victorian Government’s ongoing failure to keep population estimates is an insurance policy for the Federal Government’s continuing rejection of any upgrading to “endangered” status. The fact that neither Victorian nor South Australian koalas could be translocated to NSW and Queensland is ignored.

These are the machinations of irresponsible governments determined to wipe out Australia’s iconic and unique species.

A Nuremberg type trial into the deliberate slaughter of this nation’s wildlife is becoming an urgent necessity.

Given the extraordinary response globally to the terrible fate of over one billion animals scientists estimate perished in the fires, the ongoing refusal of governments to provide adequate food drops and to take urgent action to protect species is criminal.

There are no bets on any State or Federal Government calling for a Royal Commission into the deliberate wipeout of Australia’s wildlife. But an increasingly angry electorate and growing international concern over what’s happening in this country will not go away.

Read more:

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/portland-mass...

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The public is being misinformed about the true fate of koalas following the devastating effects of drought and fires, writes Sue Arnold.

IS THERE A CONSPIRACY to hide the fact NSW koalas are on the verge of extinction? Not in 2050 as WWF continues to predict, but in plain sight now.

Given the ongoing evidence of misinformation across mainstream and social media, one could be forgiven for thinking that a U.S.-style misinformation campaign is in full swing.

In reality, the legacy of the bushfires and drought make it almost 100 per cent certain that NSW koalas are facing looming extinction, save for a few small colonies. The only significant colony remaining is in southwest Sydney.  

But no one wants to say “extinction”. Or demand emergency action. Or shift blame for the situation where it belongs — in the laps of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Murdoch media.

Read more:

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/mainstream-me...

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An Australian Koolie dog who was abandoned by his family has been rescued and retrained to detect koalas. 

Bear has been following the aftermath of Australia's bushfires since January, finding sick, injured or starving koalas that otherwise would have perished. He has now rescued more than 100.

Read more:

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-52643540/australia-fires-rescue-dog-bear-saves-scores-of-koalas

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A dispute over plans by a property developer to raze a local forest on the bushfire-ravaged south coast of New South Wales has been escalated to the federal environment minister amid concerns the project could threaten endangered species.

Residents of Manyana have been protesting against plans by Ozy Homes to clear 20 hectares of unburnt mature-growth forest to make way for nearly 180 housing lots.

They are opposed to the development given that so much local bushland has been burned.

Ozy Homes was due to start clearing the forest in Manyana last week but agreed to pause work until Monday to allow for discussions, the community group Manyana Matters said in a statement this week.

But after a meeting on Wednesday between Ozy Homes, the NSW planning minister, Rob Stokes, and representatives from Shoalhaven city council, the group on Thursday said the developer had shown “no indication ... that they are willing to further delay the start of work on this project”.

Manyana Matters has now engaged the Environmental Defenders Office to act on its behalf, with letters sent to the federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, and the director of Ozy Homes.

The community group wants the development – approved by the NSW government in 2008 – referred to Ley for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, saying it could affect a number of threatened species, including the critically endangered swift parrot.

Apart from experts finding the project will directly impact listed species by clearing bushland that provides key areas of habitat, the site “is now surrounded by fire-affected forest and has become an important refuge for wildlife”, the letter to Ley says.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/15/nsw-south-coast-resi...

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The land should be bought by the National Parks under a special edict...

Koalas will be extinct in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) by 2050 unless there is urgent action, an inquiry has found.

The once-thriving marsupial has been ravaged by habitat loss, disease and climatic events in recent years.

About 5,000 koalas are thought to have died in devastating recent bushfires, the report to state parliament said.

It urged lawmakers to ensure that remaining populations did not perish in rapidly diminishing habitats.

The inquiry, by a cross-party committee, found pre-bushfire estimates that koalas numbered 36,000 in NSW were now outdated.

In the past year, blazes which scorched more than five million hectares statewide had affected 24% of koala habitats, it said.

• A visual guide to Australia's bushfire crisis
• Which animals fare best and worst in fires?

The logging and fracturing of other koala areas has also been detrimental to their survival, according to the year-long investigation.

The committee said climate change posed an ongoing threat by exacerbating bushfires and drought, and by reducing the quality of the animal's eucalyptus leaf diet.

Read more:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-53231348

It's a simple equation that suggest all the political decisions to let habitats be destroyed, even in "proportion", is equivalent to politicians murdering koalas... Full stop. The sustainability of these animals, symbol of this country amongst many, is eliminated by the felling of trees. Hello? Koalas don't eat hamburgers. 

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Matt Kean has taken a principled stand on the conservation of NSW’s flora and fauna (‘‘Matt Kean aims to double koala population by 2050’’, July 26). It remains to be seen whether he can persuade other members of the state government who worship fervently at the Church of Perpetual Growth to prioritise protection of our threatened species from extinction, the looming climate crisis and the other environmental problems we have today – some of which are almost irreversible.

Alanna Somers, Penrith

Mr Kean’s plan to double the number of koalas by 2050 is ambitious and though we know the whole of the public would be 100 per cent behind him would the rest of the Berejiklian cabinet be there to support him?

Unfortunately the answer must be no at present, as development, logging and mining are destroying habitat and wildlife corridors. Good luck, minister, we are all with you.

Patricia Durman, Wedderburn

Does this mean the chlamydia-free Mount Gilead koalas are now safe from the Lendlease housing development that threatens their habitat near Campbelltown? It would be a good place to start, Matt.

Lisa Dixon, Croydon

Matt Kean’s political rise must rattle the foundations of PM Morrison and his ministers (‘‘Kean’s green sweep for the middle ground’’, July 26).

Far from being ignorant, disconnected and unknown to his federal counterparts – as insinuated by the PM’s early 2020 outburst – Kean relies on scientific fact, not ideological mindset, to shape his politics and form his policies. Sounds like a smart, sustainable response that many ‘‘quiet Australians’’ in our trying times might warm to.

Cleveland Rose, Dee Why

Read more: SMH (Sydney Morning Herald — 2/8/2020)

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With as many as 3 billion Australian animals thought to have been killed or displaced by last season's bushfires, young koala Tin Tin is one of the lucky ones.

Key points:

• Bushfires last November and December burnt more than 20,000 hectares of the land around Crows Nest
• Wildlife carer Trish LeeHong rescued koalas that had been burnt, orphaned or traumatised 
• The animals are now being released back into the wild but there is concern food will be scarce as the vegetation still recovers from the fire

The joey was found in a paddock at Crows Nest, north of Toowoomba in southern Queensland, last November after fires burnt more than 20,000 hectares in the region.

Wildlife carer Trish LeeHong rescued Tin Tin from the top of a 30-metre tree using a cherrypicker.

He weighed just 1.2 kilograms.

"His mother was in the low fork of the tree and she sadly passed away within a couple of hours of us catching her," Ms LeeHong said.

"He's an amazing little koala; he's climbing really well, and he's very fit.

"So he's off to a good start."

Ms LeeHong saved 28 koalas from the area, most of them injured, orphaned or traumatised.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-06/crows-nest-bushfire-koala-conservation-lack-of-food/12507470

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Queensland has introduced its strongest-ever protections for koalas in the south-east of the state, promising to protect five times more existing habitat than ever before.

The South East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy, launched by Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch on Saturday, will prohibit the clearing of another 330,000 hectares of koala habitat within certain priority areas.

More than 577,000 hectares in southeast Queensland are now identified as koala priority area and a total of 716,266 hectares has now been mapped as koala habitat.

Read more:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/science/environment/2020/08/29/queensland-sets-aside-577000-hectares-as-a-koala-paradise/

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A North Coast MP has threatened to head to the crossbench if the New South Wales Government forces farmers to search for koalas on their properties.

Key points:

• A NSW Nationals MP says he will go to the crossbench and not support State Government policy
• New planning regulations include increasing the number of protected tree species that trigger koala checks
• The MP is concerned more green tape will impact farmers and timber industry

The new environmental planning regulations, the Koala Habitat Protection State Environment Planning Policy, are an attempt to protect koala populations.

But the Nationals' Member for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, said the new rules, which include increasing the number of tree species protected from 10 to 123, is a step too far and would severely limit the way property owners manage their land.

"It is protecting trees and not necessarily the trees that koalas live off," Mr Gulaptis said.

"Urban expansion, car kills, chlamydia [that kills koalas] — it's not necessarily the timber industry, nor is it because of the farmers that have cleared the land."

Mr Gulaptis said he will risk his position within Government ranks in order to support the regional communities he represents.

"It's not an idle threat," he said.

"I don't have faith in every policy the Government introduces and I'm prepared to go to the crossbenches. They can't expect my vote on every piece of legislation."

The Nationals MP said there was a clear difference in the way the environment was handled in cities and country areas.

"In the city they can go out and go ahead and clear all they like for the Badgery's Creek airport, a development of state significance, so it is one set of rules for them," he said.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-02/nationals-mp-threatens-crossbench...

The cartoon above is funny, but methinks that between the National and the Liberals of New South Wales, there is a bad cop good cop routine going on... Both parties have been guilty of neglect and vandalism on the koala front...

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The federal government will unveil a koala protection package later this month which will include investment in habitat conservation and research.

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley is finalising the details of the package, which comes in the wake of ongoing land clearing and last year’s devastating Black Summer bushfires.

Read more if your believe in fairies:

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/koala-protection-policy-to-target-habitat-conservation-and-research-20201107-p56cef.html

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The NSW Coalition has agreed to new rules to protect koala habitat but will effectively exempt most rural land from more stringent rules administered through the planning process.

Instead, koala habitat on rural land will be covered by yet-to-be-announced protections under land-clearing laws administered by NSW Local Land Services through the primary industries portfolio.

The Nature Conservation Council on Monday said “excising farming and forestry zones from the koala Sepp is a catastrophic setback for the species”.

“These are where most of the koalas live and where most koala habitat destruction is happening right now,” council chief executive Chris Gambian said in a statement. “If you remove protections from these areas you have basically given up on the species and signed its death warrant.”

The announcement of the new koala state environmental planning policy (Sepp) 2021 was held up until Monday evening as the Liberal planning minister, Rob Stokes, and the Nationals leader, John Barilaro, worked to agree on the wording of a press release.

The Coalition was almost torn apart in 2020 over the issue. The Nationals threatened to go to the crossbench if the new koala planning policy was not abandoned. They later dropped the threat and the policy was reworked.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/08/most-rural-land-exempt-from-new-nsw-coalition-rules-to-protect-koala-habitat

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BY Sue Arnold

A new conservation plan designed to protect koalas is once again failing to save the species from extinction, writes Sue Arnold.

REGRETTABLY, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s latest environmental policy announcement, The Threatened Species Action Plan, is short on details and fails to address the substantive issues driving Australia’s extinction crisis.

IA emailed a series of highly relevant questions to the Minister in mid-September regarding any specific policy changes necessitated by the ongoing extinction crisis. In spite of many phone calls and emails to the Minister’s office requesting answers or an interview, no response has been received. 

The questions are self-explanatory in terms of the ongoing failures to address the real threats to Australia’s iconic wildlife. Of particular concern is the ongoing destruction of koala habitat by industrial logging, major urbanisation projects and infrastructure. Given the recent downgrading of koalas to endangered status under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC) there’s been an expectation of urgent action by the federal minister. 

To IA’s questions:

‘Q. Will you as Minister revoke self-referrals by developers when koala habitat is identified in projects?’

Given the millions and millions of taxpayer dollars allocated to the conservation of the koala and the extent of research into major threats, it is abundantly clear that the only successful way to protect remaining species is to legally protect habitat. Without legally protected habitat, there is no future for koalas.

It is important to remember that the koala has been identified as an umbrella species for coastal forest ecosystems by Professor Hugh Possingham, one of Australia’s leading ecologists.

Destruction of koala habitat also impacts significant biodiversity.

Prior to downgrading the koala to endangered status, developers were encouraged to self-refer projects to the Federal Government for approval by way of a score detailed in the national koala referral guidelines.

Under the present Government, the previous koala referral guidelines have been replaced with Matters of National Environmental Significance guidelines, which state:

‘These guidelines outline a “self-assessment” process, including detailed criteria, to assist persons in deciding whether or not referral may be required.’

Once again, self-referral is voluntary. 

Independent environmental consultants are, in most cases, denied access to project sites to evaluate the status of koala habitat and any threats posed by the development, thus ensuring there are no checks and balances.

The bilateral agreement between the Federal and NSW Government allows NSW to assess development applications on behalf of the Federal Government. This agreement gives a green light to developers and has not been revoked by the Minister.    

‘Q. Will you consider revoking s.6(4) of the Regional Forest Agreements Act 2002 which allows the industry to be quarantined from Part 3 of the EPBC Act given the ongoing significant loss of biodiversity in all RFA states?’

Without doubt, the continuation of industrial logging in NSW and Victoria poses the greatest threat to not only koala survival but many other iconic species. By revoking s.6(4) of the Regional Forest Agreements Act, the industry would be required to undertake environmental impact studies and proper management plans. A number of species would potentially be protected from logging and legal challenges may be possible.

In NSW, the Forestry Corporation is targeting koala hubs in native forests. Under the NSW Forestry Act 2012, a privative provision denies public interest standing which would allow a legal challenge over forestry harvesting breaches.  

Koalas are facing extinction in NSW. Their plight is well summed up by the North East Forest Alliance:

The NSW Government’s spending of tens of millions on koala hospitals, open-range zoos and planting seedlings won’t stop koalas from becoming extinct in the wild unless they save and stabilise surviving koalas by protecting their existing homes, NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said.

Every day, the NSW Government is allowing the Forestry Corporation to cut down mature koala feed trees in public forests and farmers to bulldoze them, while their propaganda arm goes into over-drive pretending that koalas don’t need their feed trees.

Significant Impacts caused by the 2019-2020 bushfires on forest species, flora, riparian zones and ecosystems are not addressed in the NSW Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA), responsible for establishing conditions for the protection of biodiversity. The approval was signed in November 2018 and has never been updated.

Research cited in CIFOA protocols relating to the protection of flora and fauna largely relies on out-of-date research undertaken prior to the bushfires.

Recommendations from scientists have not been addressed or implemented. Scientists have estimated recovery for some species make take up to 50 years. 

‘Q. What specific actions will your ministry take to reflect the down-listing?’

A national monitoring program/national recovery plan was approved under the Morrison Government.

As usual, the focus of both plans fails to provide any protection for existing habitat:

‘The goal of the NKMP is to deliver a robust estimate of the national koala population and build a long-lasting capability to monitor and assess trends in koala populations, distribution and health across the species range.’

The time to carry out a ‘robust estimate of the national koala population’ was after the bushfires, a move that state and federal governments strenuously resisted. However, evidence provided by former Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, indicated that at least 8,000 koalas had been incinerated on the mid-north coast of NSW, providing a glimpse of the total mortality. An estimated 60,000 koalas died in the fires according to a WWF report.

The National Koala Recovery Plan (approved by the Morrison Government) is 136 pages of the usual strategies, criteria, objectives and goals. However, the plan does acknowledge the importance of ensuring koala survival.

The koala is an archetypal umbrella species, whereby actions to manage and protect its habitat may likely provide benefits to many other species and enhance ecosystem functions.

Plibersek has not addressed one critically important strategy in the recovery plan:

‘Incorporate the impacts of projected climate change such as drought, heatwave and fire, into all strategic koala planning and actions, including restoration guidelines, offsets, translocation guidelines, forestry practices, corridor, reserve and protected area planning, allowing for iterative updates using a robust scenario-based approach.’

The new threatened species action plan identifies three species targets by 2027. 

‘Target 1. All priority species are on track for improved trajectory.

Target 2. Implementation of priority actions for priority species is tracked and published.

Target 3. Species at high risk of imminent extinction are identified and supported to persist.’

It would be difficult to describe these targets as responsible active policy designed to ensure the protection of any of the 110 priority species identified in the plan, including the koala. Legal habitat protection fails to make the grade, again. 

The final question IA asked of the Minister was whether she would consider setting up an environmental summit along the lines of the recent job summit.

Given the sheer extent of problems facing Australia’s environment an environmental summit is of equal importance and needs to be a priority.

READ MORE:

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/new-koala-action-plan-another-policy-failure,16850

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Rising temperatures, widespread chlamydia outbreaks, land clearing and urban development are just some of the threats koalas currently face, although the problem stretches back more than a century.

In the 1920s, the koala conservation movement began in earnest after hunting them for their fur almost sent the iconic creature to extinction.

One attempt to help boost populations at that time was relocating koalas.

Between 1923 and 1925, 18 koalas from Victoria's French Island were relocated to South Australia's Kangaroo Island – an island then without a native koala population.

By 2019, the estimated population of these koalas was around 50,000.

Yet, while these conservation efforts lifted koala numbers, Dr Leigh says significant gaps in our knowledge have impacted long-term success.

READ MORE:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-30/saving-the-koalas-blue-mountains-extinction/101775152

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BY Suzanne Arnold

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has removed the Koala Referral Guidelines, replacing them with a weaker and far more complex system, again dependent on self-referral. Suzanne Arnold reports on the ‘Nature Repair Market Bill’ to establish a voluntary market for “biodiversity credits”.

Increasingly, the likelihood of koalas surviving on Australia’s east coast is grim.

The most significant threats to koalas are state and federal government’s policies of extinction. Put simply, koalas are in the way of growth, the driver of Australia’s economy. Their habitats, coastal forest ecosystems, are destined to be bulldozed and logged to accommodate the anticipated Big Australia growth.

As the Green Institute says:

the [Nature Repair Market] Bill is a plan for distraction, displacement and rorts that will do nothing to protect, let alone repair, the natural world.

Many of the actions taken by recent governments are ineffective, yet marketed heavily as aiding protection.

Over half a billion dollars has been invested by the NSW and federal governments in attempts to persuade domestic and international concern that action is being taken to ensure koalas’ survival. Recovery plans, research projects, grants to wildlife hospitals, disease research, buying bits and pieces of habitat, all ignore the primary reasons for the species’ looming demise.

Habitat loss and climate change. Massive urbanisation projects to accommodate exponential increases in the human population, industrial logging in native forests which have had no adequate time to recover from the catastrophic bushfires of 2019-2020, mining and infrastructure combine to eradicate habitat. Without habitat, koalas are doomed.

More than a decade ago, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) identified the koala as one of ten species globally likely to be severely impacted by climate change. A status mostly ignored by governments.

In February 2022, the koala was down-listed to an endangered species under the provisions of the Environmental Protection & Biodiversity Act (EPBC) threatened species list.

The down-listing only applied to NSW, Queensland and the ACT Victorian and South Australian koala populations continued to be ignored. Whilst a concerned public breathed a sigh of relief over the down-listing, neither the state or federal governments carried out any action likely to result in upgraded protection. No legislation was introduced to protect habitat.

Major threats to koala survival remained.

At the federal level, listed threatened species are matters of national environmental significance under the EPBC Act’s assessment and approval conditions.

In the past, an endangered listing provided a certain level of protection. Projects destined to destroy the habitat of listed species were required to undertake environmental impact studies, management plans, and proposed mitigation.

Under the Morrison government, the proponent of any project involving koala habitat could refer to a set of questions set out in the non-mandatory Koala Referral Guidelines, resulting in a score. The score indicated whether the project was required to obtain approval by the Environment Minister. With the whole process based on self-referral, there were no guarantees of koala habitat protection.

Tanya Plibersek, now Environment Minister, has removed the Koala Referral Guidelines, replacing it with a much weaker and far more complex system, again dependent on self-referral.

A National Recovery Plan has been published, containing pages and pages of information already available in published research and government records.

“The purpose of this plan is to provide for the research and management of actions necessary to stop the decline of, and support the recovery of, the listed koala so that the chances of long-term survival in nature are maximised. It is the road map to recovery.”

This statement has been the mantra of governments made since last century, promises with no undertakings made, no implementation of desperately needed legislation to protect habitat ensuring koalas long term survival.

By far the most serious threat to koala survival is industrial logging of native forests. The Victorian government has announced it will end native forest logging by the end of the year, while NSW remains dedicated to ongoing destruction of remaining forests.

The federal government is responsible for the Regional Forest Agreements between NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia. The provisions of these agreements allow the timber industry to ignore environmental protection provisions under the EPBC Act. Nor can the public make legal challenges over deliberate destruction of endangered and critically endangered species by the industry.

There are no current koala population estimates. Post the Black Summer bushfires, no state or federal government has been willing to undertake estimates of remaining populations. An astonishing rejection given that an estimated 60,000 koalas were incinerated or died of starvation after the fires.

Even more curious is the deletion of previous government estimates of koala populations in NSW, Queensland and nationally by the Albanese government. These estimates were available under the Species Profile and Threats database (SPRAT) identifying significant losses. The most recent estimate in the old database, (now only available in conservation advice to former Environment Minister Sussan Ley), demonstrated the NSW koala population was down 33% to 21,000 in 2010.

No identifiable recovery of NSW koala populations since 2010 has been confirmed with on-ground population estimates. A three-year drought preceding the Black Summer bushfires caused major losses, as koalas died of thirst and starvation. No records were kept by governments.

The new SPRAT contains no population numbers.

According to reports, some 8000 koalas died on the mid north coast of NSW in the 2019-2020 bushfires – 25% of koala habitat was burnt according to a report by the Department of Planning & Environment.

In 2020, the Morrison Government granted $18 million to a number of on-ground conservation actions, including the CSIRO, for the design and implementation of a National Koala Monitoring Program.

In October 2022, the Labor Government made a grant of $10 million over four years to CSIRO for a “new phase of a National Koala Monitoring Program.” Breaking down the grant to the four koala states, NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, results in 2.5 million for each state, and $625,000 annually.

Undertaking scientifically acceptable estimates which include on-ground verification would cost considerably more. CSIRO response to questions by MWMas to how the “robust estimate of the national koala population” would be undertaken failed to provide any detail.

The same questions emailed to Plibersek’s office were ignored.

No audit of the previous millions granted by the Morrison government has been undertaken, including of a $50 million grant in January, 2022.

The new Labor government in NSW promised the establishment of the Great Koala national park on the state’s mid north coast. A park which would almost certainly ensure the survival of koalas at a time when local and regional extinctions were happening on a regular basis.

The NSW Nature Conservation Council revealed that the Forestry Corporation intends to log almost 20% of the proposed park in the next 12 months.

No action has been taken by Penny Sharpe, NSW environment minister, to declare a moratorium on logging in the park’s proposed area nor is there any evidence the Minns’ government will act to prevent Forestry Corporation’s plans.

Koalas appears to have few real friends left within the major political parties.

READ MORE:

https://michaelwest.com.au/has-tanya-plibersek-watered-down-scott-morrisons-koala-protection-policy/

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“We all think koalas are cuddly. And we all want to save them. But guess what, you need to take action on climate change if you’re going to save koalas.”

~ Anthony Albanese, then-Opposition Leader, January 2022 

IN 2022, then-Opposition Leader Albanese criticised the Morrison Government’s environmental funding investment of $50 million for the protection and recovery of koalas as failing to urgently address climate change, accusing the Government of being "all announcement, no delivery".

Mr Albanese went on to say:

"They haven't even delivered on the previous commitments they've made with regard to the Great Barrier Reef. And we see it again today with koalas."

Is the Prime Minister taking a leaf out of Donald Trump’s playbook? The former President provides irrefutable evidence of what happens when politicians lie, deceive and misinform the public.   

Look no further than the U.S. to see the damage political lies are doing to democracy. The public needs to have some degree of trust in government if democracy is to work.

That means ethics. Are there any governmental or political ethics?  

What should be done about lies and false promises? Should there be a penalty?

Albanese’s statement as Opposition Leader clearly indicates he has some knowledge of threats facing koalas as a result of climate change. Historically, there’s a mountain of evidence.

In May 2008, the Australian Academy of Science published a paper titled, ‘Koalas under threat from climate change'.

This paper demonstrated that increased temperature and carbon dioxide levels are a threat to the koala:

'Higher temperatures could also affect eucalypt species. Some are so sensitive to temperature that even one degree shift in mean annual temperature will affect them.’

In 2009, the world’s leading conservation organisation, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – on whom the Federal Government relies for many of its threatened and endangered species listings – warned that the koala was one of ten species ‘destined to be hardest hit by climate change’.

Professor William Foley also stressed the importance of recognising koala vulnerability to climate change:

‘Australia’s iconic koala faces malnutrition and ultimate starvation as the nutritional quality of eucalyptus leaves declines as CO2 levels increase... This eucalyptus marsupial system is one of the very few examples in which the direct effects of CO2 can be linked to populations of wild animals.’

In 2016, a detailed ecological model study by the University of Melbourne found that:

‘...a changing climate means that by 2070 koalas may no longer call large parts of inland Australian home.’

But Albanese’s concern for koalas and the impacts of climate change on the species has been long forgotten. 

Were his previous comments and criticism of the Morrison Government just an election ploy, cashing in on the public’s significant and growing concern over the koala? Global concern was also focused on koalas, particularly after a catastrophic loss of the species incinerated in the 2019-2020 bushfires.

Instead, his Government has delayed promised new environmental legislation to replace the outdated Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

According to the Australia Institute, there are 116 new fossil fuel projects on the Federal Government’s annual resource and energy major project list.

By September 2023, Albanese’s Government had approved or extended eight fossil fuel projects since coming into office in May.

A Senate Committee rejected a Greens bill to insert a climate trigger into environmental laws. The Guardian reports that Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek 'said the Government had already made changes to strengthen Australia’s climate laws.’

Plibersek has stated:

“What we’re not going to do is have a safeguard mechanism on the one hand and a separate set of environmental laws covering the same material on the other hand.”

A landmark case by the Environmental Council of Central Queensland challenged the Federal Government over emissions from two coal mine extensions in New South Wales.

Known as the "Living Wonders" case, the challenge focused on the environment minister’s power in considering emissions in the approval process. The Federal Court ruling, establishing a precedent, found the Federal Government can ignore the risks fossil fuel projects pose to protected flora and fauna species, and places when considering approval.

The judges said the case highlighted the "ill-suitedness" of the current environmental laws in relation to assessing the threat of climate change on the environment.

In NSW, the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 puts anthropogenic climate change high up on the key threatening processes list. However, there are no provisions in the legislation to address the impacts.

The Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act 2012 also includes as a key threatening process 'loss of climatic habitat caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases’ way down on an extensive list with no specific provisions to address the issues.

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https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/koalas-keep-dying-and-we-should-be-outraged,18652

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