Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) prior to 2012, the koala was not protected under Commonwealth law,

  (ii) on 22 September 2011, the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee tabled the report of its inquiry into the status, health and sustainability of Australia's koala population which, among other things, unanimously recommended that the Minister for the Environment consider listing the koala as a vulnerable species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act),

  (iii) on 2 May 2012 the Minister for the Environment listed koala populations in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory as a vulnerable species under the EPBC Act, and

  (iv) one-third of New South Wales' koala population is estimated to have been killed in the 2019-20 bushfires; and

(b) welcomes and supports the New South Wales Government's State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2019 instrument as being consistent with the koala's status under the EPBC Act and as a significant measure aimed at further protection of vulnerable and threatened New South Wales koala populations.