Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Two weeks ago, the bulldozers rolled into the ancient woodlands at Lee Point in the Northern Territory—the home of the endangered gouldian finch and the eastern curlew. These bulldozers have rolled in and destroyed 400-year-old trees, the habitat of these endangered species. There are 270 species of Australia's unique birds that live in this area, including these endangered species. It is the home of endangered black-footed tree rats and the endangered northern brushtail possums.

This is government sanctioned extinction, because it has been approved by the Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek. The government bulldozers are clearing for a government agency, Defence Housing Australia. This is a government agency destroying these ancient woodlands, agreed to and approved by the government's own environment minister. It must stop. It was paused last week because there are now allegations of illegal land-clearing. If you can't even ensure that your own government agency is abiding by the law, what hope do we have that this government and the environment minister will be able to hold any company, any proprietor, to account?

Minister Plibersek's approval at Lee Point is failing our environment and is failing to even uphold the weak environment laws that we have. The minister must take responsibility. Put a stop to this clearing, this bulldozing of these ancient woodlands once and for all.