NSW & Federal Governments strip back koala protection despite bushfire devastation

The Federal Government has walked away from its responsibility to protect nationally listed threatened species like the koala, in a new bilateral agreement between the Commonwealth and the State of NSW today.

The agreement sees the Federal Government abandon its responsibility to protect threatened species and ecological communities that cross state borders, making it easier for new and expanded coal and gas projects to damage landscapes at risk of extinction.

“It’s outrageous that our beloved koala will now experience the double whammy of bushfires and now the Federal Government abandoning its responsibility to protect nationally threatened species,” said Jonathan Moylan, Campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific.

“This plan will allow multinational coal-mining companies to destroy threatened species habitat before alternative habitat is found, while rendering threatened species homeless in the meantime. This has been on the wishlist of the coal lobby for years.”

“The Federal & NSW Governments must not use this global health crisis as an excuse to try and sneak through agreements that put the interests of corporations ahead of Australian communities and wildlife, which have already suffered so extensively through the Black Summer bushfires.”

“The very fact that this agreement has been announced on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of a public health crisis shows that all parties involved know this is a contentious move that won’t sit well with Australians”

“Now more than ever the Federal Government must prioritise the interests and the health of the community and the nature we love, not the interests of big corporations.”