Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We had a great win in Macarthur last week. I'd like to put on the record my appreciation to the New South Wales Minister for Energy and Environment, Matt Kean. Matt came out last October, at my invitation, to see Macarthur's koala colony, one of the only disease-free koala colonies in Australia. He saw several koalas, and a black snake, but he recognised the importance of preserving this colony. He has overridden the undemocratic local planning panel and he's declared a koala reserve for Macarthur, which is a fantastic win for us. I had previously invited the federal government's environment minister and previous environment ministers in our state to come and preserve our koalas. They did nothing. Matt Kean has been fantastic, so it's a great win for Macarthur. In particular I'd also like to thank Ricardo Lonza, the Total Environment Centre and Professor Robert Close, among many others, who have fought the worthy fight and preserved our koalas. I also want to thank our local members Greg Warren and Anoulack Chanthivong for their support. There's much more to be done, but it's a great win for Macarthur.