Koala Extinction, Legal Loopholes in Land Clearing Laws Exposed
The clearing of up to 40 Koala habitat trees at a property in Tregeagle, near Lismore, has highlighted the contribution made by failed land clearing laws to the near-extinction of Koalas in NSW. Following community reports that Koala feed and habitat trees were being bulldozed on 15 August, community observers attended the location and recorded up to six Koalas, including Joeys, in the trees planned to be cleared under the Local Land Services Act and the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code.
Greens MP, spokesperson for the environment and Lismore local Sue Higginson said “The fact that bulldozing Koala habitat and feed trees can happen without any kind of assessment in NSW is a shocking indictment of our failed land clearing rules and demonstrates precisely why Koalas are headed towards extinction,”
“I was shocked to see the number of beautiful and mature Koala trees that had already been destroyed at this property as I drove home from work over the weekend. The former Liberal National Coalition Government failed in their efforts to fix these legal loopholes, instead they fueled and won the koala wars and now, more than two years into the Chris Minns Labor Government, continued political failure has allowed these outrageous failures to continue,”
“After contacting the compliance office of the NSW Department for the Environment, the community were told that Koalas have strong protections from harm, but in the same email they said that the removal of these koala trees - that are actively being lived in by Koalas, including breeding females - was within the rules. This demonstrates the complete breakdown of Biodiversity and Koala protections in NSW,”
“These Koala trees have been destroyed by the landowner Austin Mark Curtin, father of former Nationals candidate Austin James Curtain, despite being part of an essential koala use corridor - these Koalas are now highly likely to be subject to injury as a direct result of this reckless clearing of their habitat,”
“Just down the road from where these Koala trees were bulldozed, the incredible and dedicated staff at the Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital are receiving animals everyday that have been driven out of the trees that they need to survive and that have come to injury. It is so cruel that our wildlife carer community have to bear the brunt of cruel, unnecessary and exploitative land management practises, that are driving koala extinction through death by a thousand cuts,”
“The Minns Labor Government was elected on a promise to end the biodiversity crisis in NSW, and yet they have not closed these basic loopholes and have taken more than two years on the land clearing review that was already overdue by three years under the former Coalition Government,”
“Our Koalas and other threatened species cannot afford to wait while the Government slowly reviews land clearing codes and tinkers around the edge of biodiversity protections. We are in a crisis, and Koalas are going extinct. We know the causes, we know the solutions. We need to end the reckless clearing of habitat in NSW and introduce strict rules that prevent unapproved land clearing.” Ms Higginson said.