2022-02-11
Greens Spokesperson for the Environment, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
"Today's announcement that koalas are endangered is a national shame. The Morrison Government has repeatedly ignored the warnings of experts that koalas were at risk. Now they could go extinct on their watch"
"It's now official, unless we take urgent action to protect koalas, they will be extinct.
"Experts have been warning us for years that habitat loss, climate change and extreme weather events like bushfires have been putting our national treasure, the koala, at risk. Yet just this week we heard that the Federal Government has approved the clearing of 25,000 hectares of koala habitat for mining and property development.
"While Scott Morrison and his Environment Minister have been posing for photo ops cuddling koalas, they have also been giving licences to mining companies and big developers to clear koala habitat and destroy their homes.
"The Environment Minister must urgently release a recovery plan for the koala that includes a moratorium on the clearing of koala habitat.
"The Greens have a bill before the parliament that could be passed ahead of the election to put an immediate moratorium on the clearing of koala habitat."