Criminal policies of the New South Wales government lead to the extinction of koalas

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns' latest attempt to curb the ongoing destruction of koala habitat is the establishment of an “independent forestry committee.”

To get an answer to the key question of when the park will be designated, Chair Sue Higginson MLC asked the Minister:

Penny Sharpe replied:

Further evidence presented by Fleming made it clear that the government saw no urgency or priority in designating the park.

Fleming said:

Neither the major parties nor the Greens at the federal level have ensured that environmental issues are a top priority in the country's politics.

Budget hearings are lengthy and do not attract a large audience. This is unfortunate because the hearings are an opportunity to give ministers and civil servants a reality check. And an opportunity for the mainstream media to expose the fraudulent promises and failures.

Throughout the hearing, Penny Sharpe was characterized by evasive language and took every opportunity to shift the issue to someone else. Officials giving evidence have become experts at dodging and avoiding questions that deserve a proper answer.

In Sydney's south-west, environmental groups are fighting against massive urbanisation that will lead to the extinction of the only significant, disease-free koala population. With the government's plans to build 73,000 homes in the MacArthur region, the koalas have little chance of survival.

So far this year, 36 koalas have been killed on the Appin Road. Trees that protect their habitat are being bulldozed, leaving the distraught, frightened koalas with no place to go now or in the future. Rescue organisations have their hands full with seriously injured koalas. Their work is heartbreaking, the community is devastated as the slaughter continues unabated and is ignored by the government.

The situation is made worse by the fact that there are no safe release sites for koalas recovering from their injuries.

None of the promises made by the Coalition and Labor governments have been implemented. One promise was the establishment of the Georges River Koala National Park to protect koalas in southern Sydney from urbanisation.

At the budget hearing, Liberal deputy leader Natalie Ward asked Fleming:

While debates over forest management and environmental protection continue, Labor governments continue to destroy forests across Australia.

Fleming replied:

Sound familiar? Promises, empty promises. By December 2026, the miserable 1,100-hectare allocation that would likely save an equally miserable number of koalas will be useless. Massive urbanisation projects will already be well underway or completed, habitat will be lost exponentially and a rapidly declining koala population will be threatened with extinction.

According to the Total Environment Centre, the koala population in the Sydney Basin bioregion has declined by an estimated 22% over the past 20 years. The Sydney Basin includes seven areas of koala importance that face multiple threats, only five of which have living colonies, including Campbelltown, Wollondilly and Liverpool. In the same areas, over 40,000 new homes 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, almost every inch of land around Appin has been bought up by a conglomerate of property developers who are pushing the government to rezone this environmentally sensitive land. They are taking advantage of the housing crisis to exploit an area that has no water, sewerage, public transport or community facilities.

On 30 June 2023, the New South Wales Government approved the Appin (Part) Precinct, where Walker Corporation will build 12,900 homes in an area currently home to just 3,000 people. The sheer number of people, cars and dogs will pose a huge threat to the koala colony, not to mention the massive land clearing that will result in the fragmentation of corridors and the creation of dead-end roads.

More than half of the vehicle collisions recorded in the Sydney Basin occur in the Campbelltown/Wollondilly area (Biolink 2023). This planning approval will increase the number of cars on the roads tenfold. This move means that our only healthy, growing koala population in Sydney will face its own housing crisis and have its freedom of movement severely restricted.

A YouGov poll of more than 1,000 New South Wales and regional residents found that 84% of respondents believe koala habitat needs greater protection from commercial activities such as urban development, mining and logging. In addition, 91% support a koala greenbelt on the outskirts of Sydney that would protect native forest and bushland as koala habitat and close it off to development (such as housing, logging and mining).

According to Australian Wildlife magazine, recent research has shown that koala numbers in the Sydney Basin are declining and that areas where long-term breeding populations occur are also shrinking.

The documentary The Koalas, recently shown in many cinemas, sums up the horrific crisis facing Australia's unique landmark. The silence of the mainstream media ensures that the world is shielded from the brutality of Australia's state and federal governments, who inflict such deliberate cruelty and loss to ensure massive population growth.

There is no excuse for this criminal policy.