Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes the decline in koala populations around Australia;

(b)

calls on the Government to have a public and transparent inquiry into the status, heath and sustainability of Australia’s koala population; and

(c)

in undertaking the inquiry, calls on the Government to consider the following matters:

(i)

the iconic status of the koala and the history of its management,

(ii)

knowledge of koala habitat,

(iii)

threats to koala habitat such as logging, land clearing, poor management, attacks from feral and domestic animals, disease, roads and urban development,

(iv)

the listing of the koala under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999,

(v)

the adequacy of the National Koala Conservation and Management Strategy,

(vi)

appropriate future regulation for the protection of koala habitat,

(vii)

interaction of state and federal laws and regulations, and

any related matters.

Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement in relation to the motion.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for two minutes.

Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government’s position in opposing this motion relates to Senator Brown’s call for a new inquiry to look into many of the matters that Minister Garrett has directed the nation’s pre-eminent scientific body on biodiversity conservation, the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, to undertake in terms of a new assessment of the national status of the koala. This assessment is well underway and is due for completion by 30 September this year.

We all acknowledge that the koala is clearly an iconic species of great importance to all Australians but, in terms of transparency, the scientific committee recently consulted widely on the nature and extent of threats to koalas nationally, and a large number of submissions were received from researchers, care groups, local councils, members of the public and others concerned with koala conservation. The scientific committee is now considering all submissions closely before it concludes its assessment and advises Minister Garrett regarding whether or not the koala is eligible for listing as a threatened species in Australia and, if so, which category is most appropriate. The Threatened Species Scientific Committee has not yet reached a view of the koala’s eligibility for any threatened species category and will assess its eligibility against all relevant categories. In relation to work to protect this iconic species, Minister Garrett and his state and territory colleagues are moving forward with the implementation of the new National Koala Conservation and Management Strategy 2009-2014, and this strategy aims to conserve koalas throughout their natural range.

John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for two minutes.

John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome this motion on the grounds that we have seen the destruction of our habitats. I refer to three years ago when the Pilliga Scrub used to be a state forest. When I used to work out there with Tom Underwood, who was a timber miller, he was telling me that in his young days—he started work at about 14 years of age—you would not find a koala in the Pilliga. Now they are ample. He said that what happened is that the Pilliga was shut up in a national park. The levels of fuel and the grass grew, and tens of thousands of acres were burnt and destroyed three years ago. I do not know how many hundreds or perhaps thousands of koalas were burnt. The same will happen in other national parks when we shut country up. The habitats are simply neglected, the grass grows, the lightning strikes, and the savage hot fires burn through there, destroying the timber, destroying the environment, and destroying the animals—especially the koalas—that live in those areas. I hope that a good lesson will be learned out of this inquiry that you must manage your country. You cannot simply shut it up and leave it, as the national parks associations, in conjunction with the Greens and many others in this political field, push to do, with the eventual result of the destruction of the koala population. So I welcome the inquiry.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for two minutes.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Williams for that different point of view. It is my assessment that for a long, long time before Australia became a nation, it was subject to grassing growing, lightning strikes and bushfires, and there were millions and millions of koalas here until the great slaughter of the early twenties. The decline since then is a matter of conjecture, but there is a lot more than the issues raised by the senator—such as erosion, loss of natural forest, spread of urban areas, tollways and so on. It is time we took a raincheck on this iconic species.

This motion has been motivated by a threatened species statement by the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon. Peter Garrett, which did not list the koala as rare and endangered but left it to regional and state listing. That led to some calls to me. There has never been an inquiry from this parliament into the status of the koala, not ever, hence this motion. There is a departmental and scientific study into the matter. Let that go into a national inquiry. There are people who work in the service of koalas who have given their lives to the service of koalas who do not believe that inquiry or the outcome is going to help. They think that the species is highly vulnerable to extinction, and we should know the facts of the matter. This inquiry should proceed.

Question agreed to.