Koala Woman Says
Given this region is so important from a tourism point of view because of the great wine it produces, it is outrageous that our Tourism Ministers do not understand they are losing the Koala in the wild. Sadly, our Tourism Ministers think that tourists only want to see them in a zoo. How wrong they are! The Hunter has some of the most endangered ecosystems in NSW, and guess what? It’s prime Koala real estate. The Hunter electorate doesn’t have many Koalas left. Some are near Branxton, where there has been a 7,500 lot subdivision approved under the EPBC Act. It was mostly woodland and good Koala habitat, yet Koalas weren’t considered in the EPBC Act Referral. Yet another reason we need a national Koala Protection Act.
Most sightings have been in the Cessnock, Watagan Mountains and Wollombi Valley areas but there have only been 12 reported sightings in the last five years, and this is another electorate where half the bush was burnt in the summer of 2019 – 2020.
Member for Hunter
The Hon Joel Fitzgibbon MP
Australian Labor Party
J.Fitzgibbon.MP@aph.gov.au
PO Box 526 Cessnock
NSW 2325
Will he Act or Axe?
Koala Numbers
Estimated AKF Koala Population: 100-200
Estimated Koala Habitat left: 59.5%
Estimated Federal Government Population: No data. No opinion.
Listed as endangered under the EPBC Act (Feb 2022)