Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Local volunteers at the Pearl Beach arboretum are making a magnificent impact on our local environment, and over the weekend I had the great pleasure of visiting the arboretum to open their new propagation shed, funded by a $20,000 grant under the federal government's Communities Environment Program. This new shed is going to enable the arboretum to continue the really important work that they do in preserving over 40 threatened plant and tree species, including the Central Coast's very own Gosford wattle.

The arboretum was also successful in obtaining a $20,000 grant for their koala project, which, with the University of Sydney and the Central Coast Council, is investigating the possibility of introducing koalas to the Pearl Beach region. This project may see koalas return to Pearl Beach, like the colony that once existed in the earlier 1990s, prior to the bushfires. The president of the arboretum, Victoria Crawford, said that the funding has led to greater environmental awareness in their community and has allowed the arboretum to become part of the broader koala project, which has long-term impacts for the region and Australia. She said the new propagation shed, which I visited on Sunday, enables volunteers to plant more koala-friendly trees, while also ensuring rare and endangered species are conserved and restored for future generations. This place and its volunteers hold a very special place in my heart and the hearts of many across the Central Coast, and I really want to thank them all for the work they do in conserving our environment.