Click on your State, and then your electorate to find out more about Koalas in your area, and how your local member has responded when asked to support a Koala Protection Act.
A Yes, and they receive a ‘Claw’ or [if not,] an ‘Axe’
. At least one elected member will be asked to table a Koala Protection Bill but the AKF will only table the Bill when we are sure ‘we have the numbers’ to support it’s passing in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Act or Axe has been an AKF initiative since 2007, when our Board made it abundantly clear that the Federal Government is the custodian of the Koala—not zoos, not wildlife sanctuaries, nor the average Australian. Our Federal Government and its elected representatives need to understand the Koala and its trees must be considered as part of their electoral responsibilities.
Sadly, they do not behave in that fashion, and even though the Koala was listed under the EPBC Act in May 2012, trees continue to be felled. The AKF is now convinced that the Koala will not be safe because current laws are inadequate and not enforced. We are now seeking support from Federal Members to support the enactment of a Koala Protection Act.
All Federal Candidates who won a seat in the 2013 Federal Election have now been assessed after being asked the simple question “Will you support the enactment of a Koala Protection Bill”. Most of the members have taken their party line and the answer is ‘no’.
Koala Habitat Then & Now
These maps are the result of AKF’s tremendous $8m and 25 years of research. They are simple and powerfully illustrate the dramatic impact humans have had on the landscape and the devastating losses the land has felt since Europeans first settled in Australia in 1788. It’s not just the trees lost over the last 225 years, but the impacts of this habitat loss on thousands of species, many of which have gone to extinction. Saving Koala trees will help species that do not have such a powerful voice. Not to mention, us, the humans who rely on and need clean water, healthy environments and arable land.
Click here to see a larger map of ‘Koala Habitat Then & Now’.