State government has ‘koala blood on its hands’: MP Kate Washington

A Port Stephens activist says putting koalas on the federal endangered list is welcomed but raises many questions, while an MP says the state government has “koala blood on its hands”.

A Port Stephens koala activist says the decision to put the species on the federal endangered species list is welcomed but raises more questions than answers, while a state opposition MP says the government has “koala blood on its hands”.

It comes after federal environment minister Sussan Ley last week announced the Australian icon has been upgraded to “endangered” in NSW, Queensland and the ACT after previously being classified as “vulnerable” under the federal government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999.

It follows the Morrison government’s $50 million commitment last month to koala conservation and protection and is seeking states’ approval for a national recovery plan after it was revealed in a parliamentary inquiry in June 2020 that NSW koalas would be extinct by 2050.

A koala at the Port Stephens Koala Hospital. Picture: Supplied

President of the Port Stephens Koala Hospital Ron Land says its welcome news, but feels there’s been no attention detail between federal and state governments.

“It’s been announced, yet we haven’t been told a thing. We’d like to see the detail,” Land said.

“We don’t know as yet on the impact it’s going to have on the existing NSW state legislation, which is still listed as vulnerable. The issue is, how does this impact in NSW, on the existing legislation that’s contained within the Biodiversity and Conservation Act 2016, which has a different qualifying criteria, that’s the confusion points. The other thing is, what impact, if any, will the minister’s statement have on development applications currently before councils, which impact on koala habitat?”

State member for Port Stephens, Kate Washington says she’ll be raising the concerns in parliament but added the NSW Liberal government has “koala blood on its hands”.

“I’ll be bringing it to parliament as soon as I can. Essentially the NSW government needs to, and should have a long time ago, put in protections for koalas to reduce the land clearing. They relaxed the laws in 2016, which allowed more land clearing and nothing has changed since,” Washington said.

Ron Land, President of the Port Stephens Koala Hospital, buries a koala. Picture: Supplied

“We’ve been seeking greater protection for a very long time. When the NSW Scientific committee determined that out population in Port Stephens was endangered by the time they came to enlist it as endangered, the government had changed the rules, changed the law, which prevented that status being given to our koalas. That was back in 2017.”

The marsupial’s numbers have plummeted due to climate change, land clearing, dog attacks and disease and Minister Ley believes the decision means conserving the koala is given greater priority.

Experts believe there’s been a 30 per cent reduction in Koala populations since 2018 with an estimated 50 to 80 thousand existing currently in Australia, while it’s believed only 350 koalas exist in the Port Stephens area. Mr Land says his own area has needed addressing earlier.

“The koalas in the Port Stephens LGA are on their knees. 350 is a perilous number. It’s great that this announcement has happened but we’ve been telling governments for years that the situation is dire in Port Stephens. Unless this announcement carries very stringent protections, it’s almost worthless,” Land said.

Federal Labor member for Patterson, Meryl Swanson says if the Morrison government was serious about saving koalas in Port Stephens it would stump up the money needed for conservation . “It’s disgraceful that it has taken so long. And disgraceful it was necessary at all,” Swanson said.