CEO Deborah Tabart OAM sent a letter to the Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this morning at 9am.
RE: 80% KOALA DECLINES
On behalf of the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) I am writing to ask you to install a moratorium on the clearing of all Koala habitat in Queensland and halt any development applications in the South East Queensland Bio Region until clear and precise prescriptions are applied to those habitats.
Because of my lengthy tenure at the Australian Koala Foundation, nearly 30 years, I do not have any faith that an expert panel will make any difference, particularly if it stacked with developers, town planners and compliant researchers.
Minister Steven Miles in a press interview implied that the 80% decline was due to the last LNP Government and yes, I agree, their policy on land clearing was appalling.
The AKF however, has a long memory and we can place this situation clearly on the heads of all former Labor Government going back to Premiers Wayne Goss, Peter Beattie, Anna Bligh and of course the Deputy Premier and Planning Minister, Mr. Terry Mackenroth.
The AKF has since 1995, when the South East Queensland was mapped by our award winning Koala Habitat Atlas, offered to work collaboratively with any Government wishing to protect Koala habitat. I have been left sitting in the waiting room at Parliament while many of the Ministers lunched. I even received red roses from one of them because of his error.
The AKF had regular meetings with the Urban Development Institute of Australia when Mr. Brian Stewart was their Executive Director and now, with hindsight I can see that there was and has never been any intention to protect Koalas.
I can imagine the development industry bosses are sitting in Eagle Street Pier Restaurants as we speak, thinking hooray, no need to do anything more – they are gone.
So Premier, you said when you were elected that you wanted to listen. Do you want to listen to the AKF?
We are confident we could help the Koala and of course we are committed to a Koala Protection Act, which would work – it would stop trees being cleared.
Does the Koala have your support Premier?
Yours faithfully,
Deborah Tabart OAM
CEO Australian Koala Foundation