Koala population boast defied the experts

A boast by the NSW Environment Minister that he’d double the state’s koala population within 30 years had ‘no science behind it’.

A boast by NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean that he would double the state’s koala population in the next 30 years had ‘no science behind it’.

A boast last year by NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean that he would double the state’s koala population in the next 30 years had “no science behind it” and defied the advice of the government’s independent experts, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

Emails obtained under Freedom of Information reveal Mr Kean ploughed ahead with announcing his intention to double the koala population across the state by 2050, saying he aimed to add “at least another 20,000”, despite koala experts explicitly warning the NSW government that setting a target could prove detrimental.

“Please do not under any circumstances give a number that we shall achieve … If we are pushed to give a koala number it is highly likely we will live to regret it,” University of Sydney population biologist Carolyn Hogg said in an email to NSW deputy chief scientist Chris Armstrong on July 21, 2020.

“How can you set a target for a population when you have no idea how many there are now?” she said in an email on July 22.

Despite Dr Hogg outlining several examples where population target announcements forced management teams to make “substandard” environmental decisions, four days later Mr Kean went on to tell The Sun-Herald he was aiming for an “ambitious target” of adding “at least 20,000”.

Mr Kean’s announcement was in response to a parliamentary report which found koala populations had fallen to 15,000-20,000 and were headed for extinction in NSW before 2050.

Under questioning during budget estimates on Tuesday morning, Mr Kean failed to provide any justification for the figure, which led to Labor MP Penny Sharpe labelling the target a “political marker” that had “no science behind it”.

“You’re pretty willing today to say we’ve got a target to double the population, which is a very nice way to divert from all the things you’re not doing,” Ms Sharpe said. “But you won’t tell the committee whether we’re going to have targets for protecting habitats or limiting land clearing.” In response, Mr Kean declined to say whether he had been briefed by his experts to not set a figure, instead saying he “didn’t think there was anything wrong with announcing targets” and a plan to address koala populations would be announced “when it’s ready”.

Opposition environment spokesman Kate Washington said the headline figure was a political fix “designed to distract”.

“The Berejiklian government has a terrible track record protecting koalas, and they know the public are furious,” Ms Washington said.

With two-thirds of koala populations on private land, Mr Kean also faced accusations of not doing enough to protect habitats by stopping illegal clearing.